FEAR: Resonance Reaction
by Zeromaru Chaos Mode
Summary: The Pointman, Fettel, Beckett...they werent the only one's Alma's mind reached out to. This is the story of what happens when a subconscious plea is answered by a willing soul. It's time for Alma to get her life back.
1. Connection

**F.E.A.R: Resonance Reaction**

**Interval 00**

_**Connection**_

The dream again.

So many times, she's had it. And it was always the same. Someone would appear, she'd look at them for a moment, and then vanish. Their confusion would fill her mind, their fear would engulf her heart…god she was tired of it all. Each mind rejecting her own…each heart shutting itself off from her touch. There was one though…one mind she had linked to. Her second son was now searching for a way to free her from her prison…while that _thing _chased him. She couldn't see into _its _mind. Was it human? Was it a construct like the horrid experiments A.T.C. had made? She didn't know. The sad thing was, though she couldn't find out what went on inside its head, for its mental barriers were strong enough to deflect her, she felt…as if it were familiar to her. As if she should know. And she hated it. But for now, she was trapped in the dream again. Always the same…

* * *

_Damn this is the third time in a row!_

Once again, his strange dream looped itself. The first time, he had followed some woman his mental self called Genevieve Aristide to this unusual chamber where strange lights would flare off.

The second time he'd found himself being attacked by shallow skinned monsters covered in blood, running like insects along the walls, their forms blurred by their speed.

But the third…was different. He found himself rising, propping against a fallen over vehicle. The world was dimmed, as if someone put mood lights on. The ground covered in ash. He looked up, and saw a child. A girl, who looked somewhere between five and ten, for his mind could not determine her true age, wearing a long red dress, with lengthy black hair that reached down to her waist stood before him. Her feet were drenched in a red substance that his second mind deduced as blood, and she was clutching a doll by the arm. Her entire posture radiated defeat, hoplessness, depression…and loneliness.

He realized, he'd not seen this girl before, in the back to back trio of dreams. It was a path he'd not traveled. She looked at him, lifeless, deadened eyes glancing past her night colored locks, and then turned. He sensed a buildup of sorts, as if she were about to do something…but she paused when words flew from his mouth, his sleeping mind confused as to why he was saying it.

"You're Alma…right?"

* * *

I froze. How the _hell _did this person know my name?! Who was he?! How could he get into my mind?! So many questions raced along my thoughts, as I unconsciously turned back to look at him. I couldn't see myself, but I could tell that shock and fear were written all over me. My body was tense, ready to lash out at a moment's notice…when he confused the living hell out of me.

He _smiled._

* * *

I felt myself holding out my hand, smile etched on her face. I wasn't happy she was afraid of me. I was happy…I don't know why I was happy. It felt as if I'd found who I was looking for, someone I'd been seeking for a very long time. I felt myself speak again.

"What say we get you out of this place?"

* * *

I blinked. Did he just- No. I had to have been hearing things…but…there he was. Kneeling at my height…or rather my _lack _of height. Smile on his face…no deception in his eyes…hand outstretched as to take my own. And then it hit me.

He knows.

He knows who I am.

He knows what happened to me.

How did I figure that? His words…even though at this point in time, my mind was still almost like that of a child…his words I could tell they had more than one meaning to them. He _knew _I was trapped. Not just in this dream. Not just in this mindset. But in that damned _bubble_.

It all happened in a brief moment. I reached out to him. Not physically…or rather as physically as I could get in a dream. But mentally.

I hit a wall.

But…it didn't repel me. It was as if I had turned a corner, thought there was a hallway, and smacked straight into a door. I bounced off…and the wall held. But it wasn't a wall. It was a gateway. His mind was guarded…but not in a tense manner. As if to say "you are welcome here, but there are things you cannot see at this time." And then…I did something I hadn't done in god knows how many years.

* * *

She smiled. After a brief moment where it seemed as if she was going to turn and run, her eyes…they seemed to recover some of their lost light. Her smile…it was beautiful.

It was as if moonlight were reflecting off of serene waves in the ocean.

As if a rising sun colored the sky in a myriad color of pink and violet waving together.

It was as if a tired…battered…beaten child…were finally offered the love and affection of the parents that rose arms against them.

Or…in her case…as if someone had finally accepted her for who she was…as if she had finally found a friend.

A massive wave of emotion washed over me. My heart felt lightened by the brilliance of her ashen covered face. Her eyes seeming to twinkle like stars in the night. I felt her feelings…hope, joy…and a small bit of fear, which was quickly beaten back by the other, more positive emotions.

She held out a shaky hand, and I felt myself gently take her tiny hand in my own.

_It's so soft…_ My inner self thought. The 'me' that knew that it was a dream. I blinked, and next I knew I was carrying her on my left arm, her own arms around my neck, her legs wrapped around my torso, with my forearm supporting her under her behind. I was about to turn when I remembered something.

* * *

"Oh right, can't forget this…" he suddenly said. I felt myself look at him, confused, before he knelt down again. He had me at an angle, as if to suggest something. For a moment, I thought he wanted me to let go…when I traced his line of sight.

My doll.

The doll left behind when they put me in that damn bubble.

The doll that would forever remain in front of my only place of joy…the swing back on Still Island.

How the _HELL _did he know?! I was in shock at the time…but I gratefully leaned down, detached a single arm from around him and grasped the baby's wrist, pulling it up. I clutched it to my chest, supporting myself on him with my remaining arm.

This man…this shadowed, blurry presence. How did he know so much? It was as if he knew my past, my present, and my future. Even as he adjusted me on his arm, I could feel my second son growing ever closer to my true position…that…unreadable _thing _following his every step. I wanted to rage, I wanted to SCREAM! But I pushed those feelings away. For once…it was simple. I felt…comforted…by this man's presence. I felt…safe. As if he were the key to everything. My instincts…rather than screaming that it was a trick, a ruse to lure me into a false sense of security, and then continue the mental and spiritual rape my father had started…they told me to trust him. And I did. We turned to the sudden golden light that had appeared over the area that was supposed to represent my swing.

* * *

"Well…here goes everything. Ready?"

I looked at her. She looked at me, smiled and nodded. Both of us were confident that whatever that light was, it would take us out of this place. I could feel it. Her emotions resonating with mine. She was happy…no, she was ecstatic. It almost seemed like her very being was radiating pure joy. And I wasn't about to let her down. We turned as one…and I took a single step, into the unknown.

* * *

The dreams didn't stop there either.

Every night that passed, ever since I was released from the continuing feedback loop that was my prison. Ever since my mind was finally let out of that horrible construct, though my body was still trapped within. Dreams would happen. Memories would play out. My mind connected with hundreds, no, thousands of others. But they all rejected me…even the ones who's minds seemed to resonate with mine…all except two. One, I knew was my second son. I had linked with him before, when he was a child…before my 'life' ended.

The other…was _him._

He was the light within my darkness.

I was no fool though. My sanity had long since left me. But…yet…it had not. Deep within. Buried deeply under mountains of hatred, fear, loneliness and depression. Years and years of pain and suffering covered it…until I dreamt. He explained it to me once. During one of our meetings. When a person dreams, psychic or not, their mind usually…splits. Connected at the core, but separate from one another. The versions of us that were playing out the dream, being shadows of our true selves. Which is why the dream versions of us would know things, or be able to do things, that were important or allowed in that particular dream world.

He wasn't as easy as separating it between conscious mind and subconscious mind, because sometimes the dream mind would know things that even the subconscious mind didn't know…or like how he _knows _he had three recurring dreams all seamlessly fused into one long dream, ending with our original meeting, but doesn't know what happened. His true self doesn't know who I am, or what I've been through.

"I am me, and yet I am he. We are one, and what I know, in time, he will know, because I am him."

It was confusing. He laughed and said it was meant to be, but it made sense. The Alma that dreamed, and played and just spent time with him, was still part of Alma Wade, but was a fragment that could detach from the whole.

"The dream self is rarely the main self. Therefore, what the dream self learns or experiences, much of the time does not filter into the main self's knowledge. Sometimes the main self will be present for the dream self's actions, able to influence the dream and its events, or even sever the dream if danger is paramount. It seems to be on an instinctual basis though, since again, even if the main self is in the dream, riding backseat to the dream self, sometimes that knowledge of what happened seems to vanish. It's pretty random really…"

He said I was still real, and everything that was happening between us, was real as well.

"It's all because of your power really. I can tell you now, my real self is a damn good telepath, but his ability lies in his defenses, rather than his offenses. He can read minds, but not easily. Sure he can punch through, but it requires us to release a lot more of our full might than we want to...Our real skill, lies in protection. If someone were to manage breaking past our defenses, or at the very least wearing them down far enough, we let the attacker in…and then quietly seal their mind within our own. While they're snooping around our head, they are now on _our _turf, in _our _world. A world, where we are God. Usually we just knock them around a bit, and then kick them out, scaring them shitless and making our point never to do that again…but some telepaths are quite vicious…and they…well…"

He smiled grimly.

"While we can't liquefy a persons flesh the way you can…we have been able to take over their brain and force a command…like for the heart to over-tax itself and explode, or to stop entirely. Or for the eyes to suddenly stop working, or for the lungs to not be able to hold as much air. Or trick their mind into thinking that every three point five seconds that passes, the left-most pinky has to twitch."

He explained that telepaths always leave a trail whenever they enter someone else's mind, be it with or without permission.

"A link is created. A connection between minds. If the connection is unwilling, it tends to vanish as soon as the attacking mind leaves the victim, unless the attacking mind is _aware _of the connection, and plants an anchor point in the victim's mind, so the attacker can re-activate the connection at any given time. If the connection is willing, the link tends to stay around much longer, if not permanently, as sort of a background thing. It's like a more extreme version of the emotional bond between close friends and lovers. Unseen, and generally unfelt, but it's still there, a phantom string between souls."

It would seem, that when I 're-awoke' my mind reached out for any able minds around me. And that range increased as my second son got closer and closer to my prison. His, was one of the many minds affected by my 'psionic pulse' as he called it. But since his mind was a _willing _one, rather than be adversely affected by my telesthetic signature, he was simply drawn in, out of his own curiosity. But I couldn't be happier. Even if **I **didn't know it, I had a friend…and a teacher.

I hated having to hide my abilities. I don't know how I knew, but I knew that with my grades what they were, I'd have unwanted attention…but then, my attempts to hide my knowledge just made everything worse…

But even so…I knew our time together was coming to an end. My son was getting close…but he still continued to surprise me.

A different dream. One I hated even more than that city…because it wasn't so much a dream as it was a memory…

* * *

"Take her to the Vault."

My heart broke at those words. The stern unwavering look on my fathers face as the armored men grabbed me by the arms. I tried to struggle…but I was scared. My powers wouldn't surface…I loved him…

"Vault huh? That doesn't sound very fun."

I froze. THEY froze. This wasn't supposed to happen. This _didn't _happen. And yet it did. My mind cleared from the memory induced fear and sorrow. But even then, proving his theory correct, the dream seemed to adapt to the change.

"Who are you?! How did you get here?!"

"Me? I'm a friend of her's."

"Alma's- She _has _no friends!"

"Well…not that _you _know of. But I don't have time to bicker with an idiot. Let her go."

"No. She is a danger to us a-

I blinked the tears out of my eyes as I gasped. He'd changed. His very stance, his _essence _radiated hatred, anger…but it was contained, directed, all a the _memory_ of my father. I waited. And waited. But…I didn't feel it. Not a single drop reached my heart.

"Finish that sentence. I **dare **you."

My father seized up. He'd moved like _I _do. He'd just…been next to the tree one moment, and pointing a blade at my father's throat the next. There was no sound…no distortion…nothing.

"As I said. Let her go."

And they did…only to grab their guns.

A single gesture…and the air rippled as…and I still don't believe it…but _swords_. Glowing blue swords, appeared and jammed their tips into the fronts of the armored men's weapons. The guns exploded in their hands…right next to me. But I saw a blur…everything distorted and I felt myself being lifted…as everything seemed to stop. And then I was next to the tree…_him_ right in front of me.

"How did-

"You…are nothing more than a construct. A representation of Alma's fears, her memory of the day her father, her _blood_, sentenced her to a lifetime of imprisonment."

"How do-

"I know…because I have seen it. Our minds our linked on a level I've only seen a few times before. She wishes for her freedom…and while I can't give it to her in the physical world…"

He changed his stance, the grass beneath his feet whipping around in an invisible wind. I stood there, shocked at his knowledge, at the very feeling he gave off.

Power.

Power that rivaled even mine.

"I can sure as hell try to grant it to her here, in this land created by the link between our minds, the world made from our souls!"

A weird collection of triangles, arranged similarly to a hazard symbol appeared beneath his feet. He raised his right hand…and golden yellow lights seemed to form above it. They merged together into...

"A sword?!"

"This…is the power of one who can **Comprehend.** This…is **Ragnarok."**

The sword seemed to pull back, and then rocket down towards the two armored men. It sunk into the ground between them…and then _exploded_ in a wave of golden light.

I was shocked. I've never seen something like that before…

The two men were hurtled in opposing directions. _He _opened his palms, both of them facing the flying bodies…and tendrils of black squirmed their way from ripples in mid air, wrapping the men up in cocoons of darkness. He flicked his fingers, as if tossing droplets of water from them after washing his hands, and small specks of silver white light surrounded the cocoons…and then crashed into them, detonating the strange black objects…and reducing the men inside to particles.

I gasped. When that happened, I felt something inside me shift, as if a weight had been lifted slightly.

He then turned to my father.

"And you…are the core. I know, this will not do much for her true self…but if I can relieve even a mere fragment of Alma's mind from the pressure, the darkness you represent…I will be happy."

"You know **NOTHING!" **The fake version of my father yelled out, his anger forcing me to cower behind my savior. A wall of inky black appeared around the man, surprising and scaring me…until a shining light appeared around _his _wrist.

"I know enough. It is you, the part of her that torments her soul, that knows nothing. In the physical realm, my power is limited to one thing…but here…in this realm of the mind…"

The light solidified into a glowing black band. Particles of light shot from its form and solidified into violet panels that resembled stained glass. It was beautiful…and I could tell it was quite deadly.

"I am **GOD!"**

The panels slid back at an angle, forming a cone shape with the tip pointing at the dome around the image of my father. Within the cone, hovering like an outline around his forearm, a red bracer formed, strange loops and curved writing on it. From the bracer, four long red objects, they looked like fan blades to me, appeared, rotating slowly.

Tendrils of black raced from the dome, heading right towards the two of us.

The blades reached forward slowly with each rotation, until finally they stopped. A glowing silver light had appeared in his hand, a similar light appearing at the tips of the blades…

And then it happened.

I felt a strange pressure build in my mind, almost as if it were asking for permission. I threw myself at it, crying 'yes!' over and over, begging it to relieve me of this horrible nightmare.

And as soon as I did…hundreds of rainbow colored arrow tipped tendrils of light screamed their way towards the representation of my father. They blocked the black worms heading out way, and pierced straight through the barrier of hatred that had appeared around him…connecting themselves straight into his 'flesh'.

A pained, fearful scream ripped from the construct's throat as a halo of light seemed to surround his body…before it shattered like glass.

And when it did…I felt free. I wasn't. I knew that. I could tell I was still in that damned bubble…and my true self still stuck in her haze of rage…but _I _was free.

The odd thing vanished from his arm, and he turned and smiled.

"Mission complete?"

My answer was to jump into his arms, crying happily. He slid down the trunk of the tree, and rested me into his lap. If anyone had been watching, it would seem a strange, and possibly suspicious sight. An older young man (and that is a compilation of words that completely contradict themselves, if I might say so) holding a crying little girl in his lap.

Hmm…maybe not so strange. He'd been a better father figure to me than my own after all.

"You know…this will most likely be our last meeting."

I nodded. Not trusting my voice.

"Not that it means our connection will fade…just…you're beginning to finally wake up."

"I know…I can feel my father getting close…his mind…is jumbled…but one thing is clear. He intends to release me finally."

"You're going to kill him though."

"I wish I wouldn't…well…_I _wish I wouldn't…I know why I am going to though. It's my instinct now."

"I can't blame you…even though I'd be the sort to trap his mind in an eternal loop of pain and suffering like he did yours…it's your call kit."

I just held him tighter.

"You know…you never told me your name."

He chuckled. "I guess I can. Even if you probably wont remember it."

"I'll remember."

It was at that moment…that I saw him clearly.

He was older, much older than I…but at the same time he looked young. I'd find out later that he was just out of his teens. Long stringy white hair flowed down his back. He'd tell me later on that it was due to stress that his hair had permanently changed that color. I thought it made him look regal. It seemed to make his light brown skin look darker though, more mysterious.

But it was his eyes. The most intense brown eyes I'd ever seen. I could get lost in his eyes…just…dream for days on end…staring at him. He told me they changed color…a side effect of his _real _ability. Red when he was angry, Silver when he was beyond Anger, or Joy.

He said the form I saw was a construct as well. Residual Self Image he called it, said he got the classification from a movie. His mind believes himself to appear that way in this world, so it does. He said he's not as muscular in the real world as he is here. Not scrawny either, but not as well built. He's close though.

Before I faded completely…I asked him one thing.

"How…did you do that?"

"Our minds are linked Alma. Even if my real self doesn't know you. This world, is **our **dream. Yours and mine. When we link, you send a pulse, which I resonate with. And because our minds are willingly connected, they work together to create a world we would both agree on. And since I am partially this world's creator, I can bend it as I see fit."

"Ok…but…what about the other part…the part where you basically took away…well…everything about me I hated."

"You wanted it gone. I wanted it gone. Our minds are linked so I can get into yours as you can mine. But you never really had the chance to practice proper defense, so you're always projecting. Which is why nobody could get near you without the proper equipment after a time. Those beings were representations of your fears, your lost love, and your pain. By destroying those constructs in this world, it sent back a message to your mind saying 'remove this fear. Remove this pain.' And while the real you no doubt still feels that fear, pain and betrayal, _you _are free from it…and I think that might actually be really useful."

"Why? How can you know?"

"Well…my outward telesthetic abilities are limited…but even before I was admitted into Wade Elementary, and underwent their _lovely _schooling, I'd occasionally see glimpses of the future in my dreams. The _biggest _visions would happen when I was wide awake…and generally were loose warnings of something to come, good or bad. A lot of telepaths start with premonitions like that, and then either it remains that power, or mutates into full telepathy, telekinesis or even empathy. You, Alma, were gifted, and cursed, with many _many _different abilities. You've got the three 'tele's' down. Tele**pathy, **tele**kinesis**, and tele**portation**. You've also got serious empathetic abilities, along with some skill in Pyrokinesis. You're a force to be reckoned with…but your father and his cohorts…being older, were completely blind to the fact that you had too much power at too young an age. So rather than finding a way to perhaps filter your powers in a manner that would let you adjust, they decided to seal you away and use you as a breeding tool for their stupid super soldier process."

I nodded.

"I honestly can't say when it changed…before, nobody had all sorts of powers like that. But then you were born…and it's as if you were the catalyst for all these people emerging with faint and growing abilities outside of 'usual' means. We haven't reached X-Men levels yet but damn, we're getting closer with each generation. But that's good…humanity needs something like this to stir shit up. That you had to suffer for it though…ugh…I hate that."

"But I have you now. I have a friend…I'm…happy…"

I was fading. I could feel myself waking from my once thought eternal slumber.

"And once your trials are complete…you'll have others. You're not alone Alma. Not now, not ever."

I felt myself smile. "Thank you…"

"…Zero. Zero Shinzaki. Well, Zero's my middle name, but I prefer that to my first."

"Alma…Alma Wade."

I felt him smile at me one last time…

"I promise you Alma…we'll meet again. Like Naminé said to Roxas, we may not recognize each other, but we'll meet again."

"I'll…hold…you…to…that…"

* * *

He stood. Her body had vanished in a swirl of multiple colored lights.

_Blue for Intelligence…faint yellow for a returning Hope…a very faint white…meaning her Purity is returning to her. Black is strong in her though…I just hope her Desire doesn't cause problems for her in the end._

He placed his hand against the tree she had her swing attached to.

_I think I'll take this with me. Give her an anchor point in my mind. It's simple…but she treasures it…and I shall as well._

_Besides…there's a big empty space in the courtyard. Might as well put it there…_

* * *

"_My baby…"_

_My god I was trying to kill my __**son**__! I'm horrible! I'm a horrible horrible person!_

_It all makes sense now…this was a test…I know it…I know how those __**people **__think! A sick twisted test!_

_No! I was so close! I…maybe…maybe I should just…_

_**No. We can't keep him safe if we're dead. We can't watch over him if we're dead.**_

_I'm so tired…who'd have thought that after all this time sleeping…I'd want to sleep again…_

_**We're falling. We have to go somewhere safe to rest. He's strong, he's smart…he's amazing. He can take care of himself. For now, we need to rest, to recover.**_

_But where?! Every mind I meet I'm rejected! I can't even reach my own __**son!**_

_**There! That feeling…that mind is open to us! We can go there! That one doesn't reject our will!**_

_It seems…unaware…_

_**All the more perfect! We go now!**_

As Alma's emaciated, naked form fell from the crashing chopper, her body was surrounded by a distortion of light. With a loud tearing sound…she vanished.

_My baby…please…please stay safe…_

* * *

Greetings all. This is my first foray into the F.E.A.R. realm. Questions will be asked, only to be destroyed by answers. This fic began as a dream. yes, everything from the unknown Male's point of view was something i actually dreamt. well, up until the first "liberation" of alma's mind. I dreamt of Aristide, i dreamt of the failed clones, and i dreamt of the ruined city. from that dream came this fic idea. Within this story we will see Alma recover her humanity, her mind, and possibly her ability to love. She will learn, she will grow, and she will gain friends and family due to the actions of one person...a single unconscious action that changed everything. This fic, not only based on my dream, but also based on the notion: What if Alma's mind was reaching out to OTHERS?

And what if someone responded in kind? The single tiny change of Alma having someone to connect with, while she was still dead to the world in that bubble, sparks an entire shift of what is to come.

Join me on this ride. I assure you, you will have a blast.


	2. Intervention

**F.E.A.R: Resonance Reaction**

**Interval 01**

**Intervention**

My eyes snapped open.

_Back. Pain. RAGE! …fear…_

_Where am I? soft…bed? Bed…bed…BED!_

I sat up immediately, my hair tickling my sides. I was still completely naked…and still looked like a damn corpse. It was then that I felt a presence coming towards me.

_This…this isn't real. Test…test…must be…fake, false, untrue, impossible. Hate…I hate them…I hate them all!_

I didn't bother looking at the room I was in. I figured it was just a room, what did it matter? The door began to open. My head whirled around to face the being entering.

"Oh hey you're aw-URK!"

_Escape! FREEDOM! KILL!_

I tele-skipped (yes, tele-skipped. It's something I picked up as a child. You kinda make a short hop and then blink over to wherever you're going. Less range than a full on 'port but it's faster.) over to him, lashing my arm out and slamming my palm into his neck. I held him against the wall for a while, throwing my consciousness against his…

…_blocked?_

He…blocked me. I couldn't get into his mind. Well, that wasn't about to stop me…but then I realized something.

_He…not dead. Why? Why live? Why not melt? Why not go gooey?_

It was…odd. Nobody, not even my own son could resist my field. Anyone I got near, usually started melting into bloody flesh until nothing was left but a burned out skeleton. But this one…other than his eyes going bloodshot from lack of air (hell he was even grabbing onto my arm with both hands and nothing was happening!) nothing seemed to happen to him.

_WHY?!_

I screamed in my mind. I lashed out at him again, throwing my full force against his mind.

Still nothing.

I glared at him, our eyes locked…and I watched as his eyes seemed to flicker red. I blinked. That was…unexpected. But then what followed was what got me going.

**Images slammed into her mind. She saw herself, holding the strange brown skinned man.**

That wasn't too bad…but then after that left, I started noticing something.

_Air…bend?_

The air around us was beginning to ripple and distort. I knew it _couldn't _have been me; I hadn't been focusing my power at that moment…

_Him?_

I stared at him, curious. That curiosity turned to slight fear as the lights in the room started to dim…no…it wasn't the lights that dimmed. Whatever he was doing…or trying **not **to do, for he looked like not only was he struggling to breath, but struggling against himself, was bending the light around us.

**Another image. She held him tightly. And then his hair began to waver in an invisible wind. His eyes seemed to turn completely red, and she watched as her hand suddenly began to shred into particles. Even her blood was 'erased' by the now almost pitch black dome around the man. In seconds, she saw herself turned to tiny almost invisible shreds, like dust particles, by a rapidly expanding sphere of distorted air.**

I screamed and let him go, stumbling backward. He dropped to the ground coughing, and the sudden oppressing force I felt, vanished.

_WHAT ARE YOU!?_

I screamed at him in my mind. I didn't think he heard me. I mean, why the hell would he? I couldn't get into his head, so why would he have reason to hear my mind?

It was then that I felt something. On the edges of my vision. A presence…a powerful one.

_Who's there?_

For a moment I saw a hospital. And a man getting out of his bed, looking at me, shocked.

_Follow._

That was my only thought. Whatever that feeling was…it could be my son. Or someone to lead me to him. Thinking of my son made me grow sad again.

I turned to teleport out. Leaving the man in a coughing heap. I don't know how, but he must have somehow sensed my intention, because he yelled into my mind.

**WAIT!**

I flinched. It was really…loud. He spoke again, this time with his actual voice, as I stood there.

"L-look…I…don't know. Who you are…but…gah…fuck… You have…a lot of power. Un…focused. Uncontrolled. I…I want to help you."

My power flared up. Every time someone said those words to me, they did something fucked up. I lashed out again.

_I HATE You?_

My consciousness met no resistance. It bounced off a wall again, but this time it seemed due to my own attack, rather than him blocking me. I felt…strange. Almost content.

He was telling the truth. He honestly did want to help me. But it didn't matter. I needed to find my son…to find whatever the hell it was that was calling to me. I pulled away…reluctantly. Telling the truth or not, alternate agenda or not…it felt damn good to be in his head.

I looked back at him, his eyes almost pleading with me to stay. I could feel something small awakening within me…a warm flame that I hadn't felt since before I was placed in that damn bubble.

I left.

He must have implanted something in my mind however, because while I was…wherever the hell I go when I teleport, I heard his voice in my mind.

**You are always welcome here, stranger.**

* * *

The young man coughed after the loud tearing sound ripped through his home. The naked, zombie-like woman had left. He stood up slowly, rubbing his neck.

"Fuck a DUCK! For a friggin zombie…bitch's got a serious grip…"

_Damn…someone that strong…what the hell is she?_

* * *

Once again I found myself trapped in my own mind…only this time it was far deeper than I'd ever been. It seems my mind had remained split into two consciousnesses. One, which was myself, the mind liberated by my good friend, and the other…the active one…forged through the flames of hatred and rage. Loss and despair. Pain…sorrow…she was everything negative about me…and she was in control.

I watched her. I watched her kill, confuse…and consume. The strange presence in our head wasn't just one person. There were many. All of them trained soldiers…much like our sons. But they irritated her. It was almost as if she could recognize them for what they were.

A distraction.

Their presences were too powerful to ignore, and their existence blocked out any signal she got from our remaining son. It annoyed me, because I wanted to find a way around the whole liquefaction thing, and give the man a hug. I mean, he IS my damn son. But it _really _pissed her off.

I watched as she cried; saw through her eyes as every now and then, one of the soldiers would appear. I saw _him_. A man I learned whose name was Michael Beckett. He appeared in a conscious level just above mine. His mind was open to me…but for some reason we couldn't see much. Perhaps it's because we were too angry that someone had dared stepped into our mind.

I remember a room. It looked like a lab…and staring in horror as these…these things…tore at this man. They ripped his body, clawed at his flesh, their mutated fingers…their MOUTHS covered in blood. I saw disgusting yellow-green containers with needle point tips rhythmically impaling a man…his eyes draining of all life…

And I realized…_She _had become a Siren to them. All they would have to do is hear her cry; see our form…and they would suddenly be hooked. I could hear her mental screams: "help me! Help me!" but they meant nothing. For it wasn't their help she wanted.

She captured one in her unconsciously weaved web of confusion. She watched as he grabbed another, the first one we saw, back at that strange man's home, and yell into the other man's face.

"Stay away from her, SHE'S MINE!"

'_Mine'? How dare he?! I belong to nobody! I am no object to be possessed like a simple toy!_

I felt her mind leave his, his knowledge becoming hers. He had family. He had friends. He had LOVE.

She had but one thing to say to that.

"i…hate you. I hate you. I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!"

The first mutter…the man was slammed into a nearby wall. Cracks splintered all over the surface as the force of his weight, and his body armor weakened the construct.

And then…a power I didn't know we possessed.

Reality itself bent around us. A creaking noise ran in my 'ears' as a heavy blanket of dirty brown…stuff…swirled in the air. It was the same thing she did to those other men, the ones that had the man called Beckett trapped. Squirming brown objects rose from the 'ground'. The creaking grew louder as she screamed at him. I realized…it was our tree. Our swing. The roots were the 'physical' manifestation of our will, since our power was strong enough to hide our presence from human notice. The swirling brown air was representation of our descent into madness, our suffering. The man was slammed into the ceiling, and then the ground, before he was dragged into our 'cave.'

She absorbed him. His physical body was shredded to burning black ash by the intensity of the sudden flames that had emerged from within his body…and his mind…his memories…became ours. Relevant knowledge was integrated and retained by our combined consciousness, while everything else was discarded along with him.

We moved on.

* * *

Oh god it's this place. This damn school…where everything started to go wrong.

Oh hey it's all fucked up now. Nice and blown up. Good, I like the new look. I quietly hoped my conscious self would add a few more holes in the walls…but I realized, she was still driven by instinct. Even absorbing that really cool black guy, she was still unstable. I really hated that she did that. He was the first one to realize something was off…other than the one man…Beckett. Griffin…that was his name. He fired at us…I…didn't really like that, but he _fought._ It pissed her off, but it made me happy. There were people that could resist us. Maybe…just maybe…this doesn't have to end the way I think it will…

But the school…ugh. Now it looks worse, what with hundreds of dead bodies and bloodstains and in ruins and…well…wait what am I saying worse. It looks the way it should. Like a hellhole. But…it was here that she did something strange. She separated Beckett from the woman. Neither one of us knows her name offhand, I think that was one of the things we discarded, I have to remember if I absorb anyone else, to grab onto what her name is. We can't access her mind though. It's…strange. I can't tell if it's blocked, or if it's even there. Maybe she doesn't have any telesthetic abilities…

I don't get it. Why the hell is my conscious self so obsessed with this guy? What is it about him that draws her to him? I mean, first she keeps bringing him from the brink of death while they're operating on him, then she basically leads him through that horrible place…and now she's luring him to the hallway with…

Wait…

_**WHAT?!**_

WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST DO?! I can do that?! WE can do that!? I mean, yeah ok he's kinda good looking for an older guy but COME ON!

Ok, it's official. My conscious self is insane. Would I have been just pulled into that insanity if it weren't for _him_? I mean, damn I looked good but it was just an illusion…and how the hell would she know…unless…that's what I'm supposed to look like?

Also, let it be known, that it is freaking WEIRD to see things through Beckett's eyes. Whatever that damn bitch did to him made a link between us. I can get into his head when he's close enough to us, but I can't do much but watch. It's…disturbing…how _dead _I look…

Wait. What the hell was that? Was that…

**Thump-thump**

……I HAVE A HEARTBEAT! Holy…I can hear it. It's…it's weak. But…my heart is beating again! Is…is this another power of ours? Can we…are we…alive? Is our…is my body…alive…?

* * *

Ok…I've figured it out. She's having fun with him. She's still filled with hate and sorrow and pain and all that crap, but she's _enjoying_ messing with his head. But…she knows he plans on killing us. Or at least he intends to do _something _involving that supercharger. Not like he needs it. He's getting stronger with each encounter…even though it might feel to him like he's weakening. She has to put more and more effort into keeping the link open when she jumps him. He's getting closer though. These replicas won't last forever. Nor will the detours. Pretty soon he'll-OH WHAT THE HELL?!

God dammit Me! Why the HELL did you drop a BUS on him?! I don't care that he survived YOU DROPPED A DAMN BUS ON HIM! My god you're worse than a little kid with a Lego building! 'Oh look, we built this amazing house out of these colored blocks for you!' CRASH! 'Oops, I dropped a TV on it.' Overkill much?

Hmm…it seems I'm changing too. I don't know if it's the fact that I'm sitting right in front of the link to Beckett, or if I unintentionally absorbed some of _his _knowledge. But I can combine and comprehend a lot more technical words than before. I know things I shouldn't know about…oh wait she also absorbed those two…Griffin and Fox…yeah. That'd do it. Wow…this is so much better than school-books. Now if only I didn't have to KILL who I wanted to learn from…

Traded one bubble for another though…well…at least with this one I can stretch my legs out for a bit…so to speak.

* * *

…so it wasn't fun. She just wants acceptance…she wants someone to love her…why am I not surprised? Wha- HEY! Hands off the doll pal! Put the doll back on the ground, and nobody gets hurt.

…damn right. That's what I- SHIT! SHIT! FUCK! COCK! ASS! GOD DAMN THAT HURTS! That huuuurts ow ow ow ow ow, BECKETT YOU FUCKASS! WHY THE BLOODY HELL DID YOU…Shoot…me…

**WE'RE REAL!**

For once we share the same thought! We have a form! I…whoa…the bullets are just…vanishing. Hey…the holes in my skin…

We can regenerate…holy crap we can regenerate…this changes everything…

* * *

No. No no no. I refuse. I am NOT going along with this. This will just make things worse. Nuh-uh. I'm putting my foot down HERE. I'm stopping this. I don't know how, I don't know in what way, but I am _stopping _this.

I think I get it though…I get why I haven't been able to do anything but watch. This…ours is not a situation that can be solved by force. It is not something that can be met with strength or finesse. No…this…this takes one thing.

**Resonance.**

* * *

Alma leaned forward. Her slowly recovering, but still zombie-like body arcing its way over Beckett's now blank form. Just as her lips were to meet his…

"Do you really think that will actually work?"

Alma's head snapped to the side, the air around her rippling as her agitation spiked. Her raspy voice took in air sharply as she stared at the…thing…in front of her.

It was herself. As a child.

"I know you want acceptance…but forcing him to knock you up, that's not going to work!"

_Shut up! How would you know?! If I have his child he'll have no choice but to-_

"Does the word 'divorce' mean anything to you?! Let's say you go through with this. You rape him while he's stuck in your little trap, and by _some _manner of weirdness you get pregnant. Do you _really _think even a man of stature such as his, would want to be anywhere near you? Don't you think the first thing shooting through his head is 'she _fucking _raped me'?!"

_SHUT UP! I HATE YOU!_

A massive psychic blast raced towards the child form of Alma…who just stood there as the attack passed right through her.

"You can't hurt me."

_WHY?!_

"Because I'm you. You can hate me all you want, but I'm the part of you that isn't blinded by grief."

The adult form stood with shock…and slowly that shock turned to realization…which then turned to despair. She dropped to her knees, crying her pain to the world once again.

"You understand now…he wont accept you if you do it. _They _won't accept you if you do it…"

_I just…want them back…_

"I know. I do too. But we can't get _him _back until we're able to control ourself. We've gotten our revenge. Everyone except the _bitch _is dead."

_I…I'm a horrible being…I SHOULDN'T EXIST!_

"That's right. We shouldn't. We should be dead, at rest, at _peace_…but we aren't. We're living. We're stuck living. Even if we could find a way to silence our mind, our body…well…"

The adult Alma stared at her child form in confusion. The younger girl simply placed her hand over her heart. Puzzled the elder did the same…and she felt it.

_I…what?_

"Our heart is beating again. I don't know how or why, but its beating. We're not just an animated corpse any more. We live."

_I…I can't…_

"We can. We just need control. We need refinement. You have to understand, I'm just a part of you. I can't take control of the body. Hell I can barely manifest out here. I want us to be whole again…but you're going to have to change."

_Change…from…this._

"Yes. Who knows, maybe we can get our life back. I mean, for us, time stopped years ago. The water preserved our body…and we don't really look much older than we did when we died."

…_how…how old am I?_

"…hmm…" The secondary consciousness did the math in her head. "Well…realistically, we're…probably just pushing forty now."

_FORTY?!_

"Yeah…but we died when we were about twenty…six I think. So technically, we're a forty-year-old woman, in the body of a twenty-year old."

…_fuck my life._

Child Alma cracked up at that. "Yeah…that's what I thought too. Well, of course I did, I'm you aren't I?"

…_apparently…what now?_

"Now…we get out of this thing. The amplifier seems to be working in our favor as well. Beckett…he can match us, but since we gained the effects as well, he can't beat us."

_I mean after that._

"…that guy."

The adult tilted her head in confusion.

"The one you almost killed."

Realization dawned upon her. _Oh…him…_

"Yeah. He _did _say we were welcome…"

…_after what I did to him?_

"Who knows, maybe he's crazy like that. But you felt it. He's got some serious power behind him…he wants to help, so I say we give him a shot."

…_alright…_

"Ok…let's pop this bubble!"

Child Alma smiled at her still kneeling older form. The older one nodded, and stood.

* * *

_Now…I have my leverage…_

Or at least, that's what she thought. Genevieve Aristide lay in a crumpled heap, next to the controls for the psychic amplifier. In her line of sight was a slowly dying Stokes, bleeding out from the gunshot wound that Aristide delivered an hour ago.

_I can wait…I have all the time in the world._

Again, that's what she thought…until the sphere began to rumble.

"Wh-what?"

A wave of…something…washed over her. She stared in horror as the controls seemed to move, de-activating the sphere.

"N-no!"

The dome opened, and out stepped the last person she wanted to see.

"A-Alma…"

The walking corpse turned its head to the woman. Hidden by her lengthy bangs, the woman glared at her elder, ready to shred the bitch to bits.

And then something happened to further compound Aristide's horror.

"Hey, this one's still alive!"

A **second **Alma appeared. This one in the form of a child.

The child bent down over Stokes, rolling her over.

* * *

I woke up. The first thing I noted was a dull throbbing somewhere around my stomach.

Oh yeah, the crazy bitch shot me. I almost forgot.

I felt a groan escape my throat and my eyes blink open. What I saw…well…

I wanted to scream. I wanted to scream, cry, yell…do anything. Instead…

"…fuck."

That seemed to amuse the little girl hovering over me, Alma's corpse looking form standing not to far away from her. I wasn't an idiot. I saw the pictures in the school. This was Alma as well. Somehow, now there were two. I sighed, resigned to my fate…and then yelped as a sharp pain shot through my stomach. My eyes snapped back open, and stared at the bullet that was now floating above the younger Alma's face.

"So strange…" She said, transfixed by the spinning metal object. "…how something so small can cause such damage…"

The older gave a raspy sigh. "…living…proof…" Her voice sounded like…well…horrible. I guess she hadn't used it since she died…wait 'I guess?!' What the hell…I'm going nuts.

"Hey…can you hear me?"

I just stared.

"I'll take that as a yes then. I can't heal the wound. I don't…have that power. Does that power even exist? Ehh, probably. Anyway, I can't heal you…but I can stop the bleeding. Assuming you _want _to keep living…I mean we could always-

Images flashed through my head. Memories of how Top died…

"No!"

The girl blinked, then smiled. "Good. I wouldn't want to leave Becky here with only that _bitch _as company when he wakes up. By the way…"

The older form seemed to nod at an unspoken message. I watched out of the corner of my eye as Aristide was lifted into the air, and then slammed into a nearby wall, the cement cracking just enough to act as a mould, holding her in place.

I couldn't help it. The bitch had caused so many problems…I gave a short laugh, followed by a groan of pain. Bullet was gone, but it still hurt like a bitch.

I winced as the girl did…whatever she was doing. "What are you planning?"

"Us? We're going to get ourself some help. Too much power, not enough focus. After that…who knows?"

"…son…"

"Oh…right. See I'm the kid in her, so I don't really feel the loss as strongly. After that I guess, we're gonna find our son."

"Son? You mean…what was his name…"

"Not Fettel. The other one. The _first _one. The one who killed Fettel."

"Wait you have two-

"Yeah. They made us give birth twice. It's…a long story. Have your superiors tell you. But yeah, we're gonna look for him."

"…good luck with that…" She killed top. She killed Fox…I don't even want to know what she did to Keegan…but…the more I think about it…she doesn't seem _that _bad. I think this whole thing was a case of us being in the wrong place…and becoming targets for her. And I think I know why.

"What about…her."

"The bitch?" That was so weird hearing that word come from the mouth of a child. "We'll leave her to you. Beckett…he's been pumped enough that we could probably find him whenever we want to. So we'll just let you guys get the information out of her. It's hard for us to jump into the minds of the un-awakened."

"…is that why I…"

"You weren't on the list of people that suddenly appeared with enough power to block our chances of finding our son. Which is why we never targeted you specifically."

"Because…I'm not usually part of this group. I'm usually with another…and that threw a wrench in Aristide's plans…"

"Really? Well…that explains things I guess."

"…go…"

"I'm getting chatty aren't I? You should be fine. It looked shallow, but you were on the verge from blood loss it seems. I don't know…when he'll wake up. But when he does…ahh, forget it."

The little one shook her head…and then vanished. The older one seemed to look right at me.

"…take…care…him…"

And then, with a loud noise that sounded almost like a backwards fart, she vanished.

* * *

We appeared in the same room we left in. We looked around. The room was sparse, panted a light blue with a small TV connected to a weird device on the end-table next to it. A ceiling fan rotated slowly, creating a very soft but nice breeze on our skin. A single sized bed…this must be a guest room. We padded over to the door, the portal opening on its own in response to our mental command. The halls were decorated with a few tall lamps, a couple of windows…

We looked out of one, just for kicks, and gasped. It was beautiful. A sparkling blue lake greeted us, surrounded by forest. We reluctantly took our eyes from the sight, and continued our way. We heard a buzzing noise coming from one of the rooms. It almost triggered a bad memory, but I stopped it before it could. Continuing on, we stepped through an open door and saw him. His bottom half covered in a dragon crested towel, his black hair sticking to his back as small droplets of water raced downward…

He was putting something back into a medicine cabinet as we entered. We stood there, silently as he closed the small doorway…and glanced in the mirror.

We understand the sudden shock he must have felt, seeing what looked like a walking corpse staring right at you in the mirror, like something out of a horror movie. He jumped and whirled around.

"JESUS-SHIT!"

Almost…but not enough. His yell wasn't loud enough to mask the cracking noise we heard as…something washed over us. It wasn't mental, that's for sure, but we felt a bit…heavier…for a few moments after. We stepped forward, raising our bony hands to him, placing them on his shoulders as he stared at us, confused, tense.

"…Help…Me…"

He looked at us for a moment…and then closed his eyes and sighed.

"We've got some work to do."

We felt ourself smile.

* * *

**A/N: **Alright…I've decided I'm going to mark where the chapter ends with the generic A/N sign. My writing style for this fic would make it far too confusing otherwise.

First chapter. The beginning portions are what I'd imagine a more aware Alma would think during some of the events of FEAR 2. In the game, she was whole, a single mind under the thought of revenge…and then lust for Beckett. In this, she was two, a conscious mind in control, seeking revenge, and then Beckett, and then a second mind. I know it's speculated that Alma's body was destroyed in the Origin Explosion, but who's to say she couldn't simply block herself from it? I mean, she was powerful enough to grasp the very _souls _of the dead, so do you really think an explosion, even being a nuclear one, could KILL her?

Nahh.

Patamon32: Thanks! It's still a bit rough, but I've got a bit of a plotline lined up. It's going to be a more realistic fic…save for moments when it's mind to mind contact. THAT is when the WTF will happen.


	3. Samarecarm

**F.E.A.R: Resonance Reaction**

**Interval 02**

**Samarecarm**

"Well if it isn't the Knights? What are you three doing here? I thought Lynn did all your hair stuff for you."

The four girls, Sylph, Lynn, Kidd and Alma had entered the hair salon: Red Moon, to be greeted by a known face.

The woman greeting them was tall with slightly tanned skin, long black hair with random streaks of blue, blaring orange eyes, which were obvious contacts, wearing a black t-shirt with the salon's title on it in big red letters surrounding a blood red moon. The store's color scheme was black and red…Alma's apparent favorite. She whispered to herself.

"I think I like this place already…"

"Oh? Who's this?"

Her body went rigid as she was noticed. _Damn, they're dampening my suggestive field! …Xen told me they were good…_

"Uhh…hi…?"

Lynn, the shortish blonde wearing a black shirt with an image of a green, dog-like creature (GIR!), responded.

"This is Alma, she's why we're here."

"Sheila wanted a touch-up before she goes off to who knows where with ol' Xen." Kidd, the resident Aussie piped up, crossing her arms in front of her old cosplay shirt of Uchiha Sasuke, the red and white fan shaped symbol, that everyone agreed looked like a drooling pokéball, covered by her arms. She shook her head, sending her dyed violet hair sweeping around her face, where she blew it out of her eyes with an irritated huff.

"Of course, Xen gave us his card…'money being no object'…"

The casheir's eyes lit up at this.

"…he…IS aware what he's getting into…right?"

Sylph, a girl around the same height and skin tone as Lynn (that being white as hell), further explained. "We've got no clue what Alma wants, and we figured this would be the best place to go…unless of course you don't think your skills are up to it…"

"LIKE HELL!" Another girl yelled from across the room, while tending to a customer. Everyone present gave a good laugh at that. Xen and his 'Knights' were well known around the town. To them, anyone that was a friend of his, was a friend of theirs.

"So…any idea what you want?"

Alma spotted a magazine with an image on the cover that had an example. Absently she gestured to it and it began flying over before she remembered what she was doing and almost freaked…until she saw the bright smiles on the patron's faces.

"Sweet!"

"Do it again!"

She blinked rapidly, not expecting this. The cashier, who's nametag read: Courtney, explained.

"Not expecting that huh?" Alma shook her head, wide eyed.

"About five years ago the bank here was being robbed by some heavily armed dudes. Xen shows up and did some crazy stuff…it was really messy but nobody besides the thieves were hurt. After that, we started getting used to having stuff randomly lift off the ground and go flying somewhere. A lot of us can't do anything like that, so whenever Xen shows up we're all hoping for something interesting to happen."

"O-oh…"

"So, I take it in there is what you want?"

"Right on the cover actually…see I want this but with…"

* * *

She felt the weird cloth object swoosh around her, tied gently around her neck. The other girls were hanging around, though Lynn did say she wanted to get her ends trimmed, so she was also under the light.

"So Alma, tell us about yourself."

Alma hesitated, wondering if she should or not.

"_Your history is your own. Classified Military Intelligence or not, you lived it, you have a right to speak it."_

"_But…wouldn't that cause problems?"_

"_Maybe, but isn't the fact that you went through all that bullshit, a problem in itself?"_

"…I spent the last twenty something years floating in a tank, dead."

Everything stopped. But Alma continued.

"When I was five, I found I could move things with my mind. About a year later, I could read minds, and sense emotions. After that, my dreams were plagued with horrible nightmares…I rarely ever got any sleep. Around seven I was pulled into constant testing programs, all of which I aced without even trying…before I realized that doing so wasn't helping in the slightest. So I tried failing miserably…and that didn't work either."

Things had resumed, but quietly.

"Not too long before that, I found I could set stuff on fire, just by thinking about it. And then after that I apparently became so powerful that just being near me hurt people. It was around then that my father had me put into an induced coma, and sealed into that _damn _tank…where I spent the rest of my years, unconscious, and yet still awake."

Only the sound of tools and hairdryers could be heard, as every living being in the salon stayed silent, listening with rapt attention.

"I was only let out of that thing twice, and that was so they could force me to give birth."

Gasps.

"By the way, I was fifteen, and sixteen when they did it. Artificially impregnated me and then forced me to give birth while unconscious. Needless to say, both times I woke up…and I wasn't happy in the slightest. Bastards didn't even let me hold my own children, shoving me back under, and in that damn bubble right after they were done with me. My own father treated me like I was just a tool for some stupid project."

Lynn stared at Alma, realizing that she was spouting what was in her file.

"A little while after that, I synched minds with the second child. My rage apparently filtered through him and he flipped out and killed some people before I withdrew. All of them had been doing experiments like what they did to me, so honestly, I didn't care. All I could think of was how much I _hated _people."

Someone spoke up. "Sounds like a Japanese horror plot."

Surprisingly Alma smiled slightly. "After that, they pulled the plug. Apparently six days later, I died."

"Fuck, me!"

"And yet…at the same time, I wasn't dead. My body died, but…I was too powerful to fully die…at least not yet. So for roughly twenty or so years, I think I was twenty six when they killed me, I floated in that tank, the only thing keeping me company was my rage."

Another patron asked. "Where was this place?"

"Project Origin's facility was in Auburn."

"Was…wait, that big explosion on the news-

"That…well as much as I'd _love _to take credit for it, I can't. That…was the work of my _first _son. Who, for a good few weeks, I kept trying to kill, because he was trying to kill my _second _son…and I couldn't get into his head. I thought he was some sort of demon that these people created and sent after us…and then after he killed my second…I finally saw who he was…and believe me when I felt like crap after…actually…that's…how I met Xen."

"Bloody prick didn't tell us this one. Go on then girl, let's hear it."

"Well…it was after the explosion. My son's allies picked him up on a chopper. I kinda, teleported onto the side of it and peaked my head in. I guess I was emitting too much power though, because the damn thing started sparking and dropping to the ground. I fell off…and did a random jump towards the closest open mind I could find. I think I fell unconscious just after the jump though, because the next thing I remember is waking up in a bed that I definitely didn't recognize…"

One of the other girls chuckled. "That's our Xen, bringing random unconscious people to his home to recover."

"He's done that before?"

"He trains a lot of people in controlling various aspects of themselves. A good few psychics have come through this town, and just as many have come back from up there saying how damn helpful he was."

"I…see…well…our first meeting didn't go to well…I was still a bit touched in the head, from all that crap…I think I almost killed him…"

The girl working on Alma dropped her scissors. "Sorry…it's just…_him_?"

"I-I know it's horrible-

"No no, it's not that…well not _just _that…but…while I don't doubt your levels of power Alma…he's like…almost untouchable. Even when all three of _them_ (here, she gestured to the three girls accompanying Alma) gang up on him."

"I think…the reason I got so close to doing it…was because he wasn't trying to fight back. I mean…I don't understand what I saw…but…the world seemed to get darker for a bit…and I had a vision of myself being ripped apart. That freaked me out and I backed off…and then he said…I was welcome to come back…it took a while but I finally took him up on his offer…and well…here I am."

"So, how long have you been up there?"

"About…well, the fifth month ended yesterday."

The girl who was working on her asked Alma. "So what did you _do _up there exactly? Usually the ones who pass through and get assistance from him do just that, pass through. Other than the Knights here, you're the first one we've met that stuck around."

"Well…"

* * *

The week before, he had gotten the all green from his personal doctor that Alma was allowed to get some physical activity. The woman wasn't sure however, _how _the corpse-like Alma was alive, let alone coherent of anything, but everyone, including Alma herself put that in the 'Things that happen with massively powerful psychics' folder.

Today, he told her he would start on her control.

The two of them were standing on the pier over the small lake behind his home. Alma fondly thought to herself: _This is where I learned to swim!_

"Alright, now, I'm gonna teach you how to Water-walk."

"…wait what?"

The young looking corpse woman looked at him, confused. While she still looked horribly unhealthy, color was returning to her flesh, and her body was beginning to re-form into what it should have been.

Rather than speaking, he demonstrated. He hopped off the pier, and landed on his feet…on _top _of the water. He took a few steps away from the pier and turned to a surprised looking Alma.

"How…?"

"The trick is to concentrate your power on the surroundings of your feet. You don't want to hover over the water, you want to cancel out the displacement effect. It's not so much gripping or anything, like friction, it's…almost as if you're making a very _very _thin platform beneath your feet as you step."

He turned around and took a few more steps, before whirling back when he heard a loud splash.

"FUCK!"

Alma's head shot out from beneath the water, her hair matted to her face by the liquid as her accomplice chuckled.

"Yeah, it'll take a bit. Here, let's start you from the bed alright?"

* * *

"You fell right in?!"

Alma flushed. "Well, yeah. He made it look so simple. I guess I was kinda full of myself at the time too. I mean, after pulling off all the stuff I've managed to, you start to think you're hot shit you know? It's a lot harder than he thinks though, perhaps because he's done it for so long."

Courtney inquired from where Lynn was. "How then? That explanation wasn't much."

"I think that was the point. He told me just enough to get me started, saying that everyone has their own threshold for being able to do it. The thing was, I kept putting too much power out, so I'd just displace the water even more. After about a day and a half though, I got the hang of it. And it was around then actually, that I realized what he was doing. He was teaching me control. I mean, I had a sense of control before, but he was teaching me _precise _control. It's one thing to have as much power as I do, and be able to fling it around at will. It's another to have this level of power, and be able to focus it on a single point _and not blow that point to hell._"

Sylph piped up from her magazine. "Kinda like how he helped me refine my empathy into a weapon. Rather than just feeling and being able to link with people's emotions, he helped me figure out a way to reflect, or even plant false ones in people."

"Well, after I got the hang of water-walking down, he taught me how to river-walk."

One of the elder patrons, an older woman getting a perm asked of Alma.

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"Not really. In basis it is…but Water-walking is learned on calm, almost completely still water. River-walking is a refinement technique. It's done on harsher, faster moving water so one gets used to having to constantly shift their focus to the point where it's subconscious. I got the hang of that pretty quickly though. He said I was a bit more suited to harsher environments apparently, so it was easy for my mind to adapt."

Kidd didn't get the point. "Why though? Why would he teach you all this? Ain't like him, even for control."

"Actually, there _was _a reason. He wanted to teach me how to fly."

"BLOODY HELL!"

Even Lynn was surprised. "Bastard never taught us…"

Alma giggled. "That's because you don't have as much outward telepathic strength as I do, or at least that's what he said."

* * *

"You see, a lot of telekinetics can levitate objects, even themselves, but few know how to _move _themselves. Hovering is fine and all, because doing it from a running leap, you glide, and that's easy to pull off. Just focus on keeping yourself afloat. But to go from stationary to moving on one's own power is difficult."

Alma sat on their bed, cross-legged, munching away on some beef jerky. Xen was making the remaining strips float around them, barely even trying. Alma would pluck one out of the air and start chomping while listening to his explanations.

"To be honest, the execution is quite simple, just lift and push. But then you're only moving in one direction, and to constantly Push yourself around to change direction is rough, and can lead to injury."

"So you have to basically keep a direct hold over yourself, and direct…yourself?"

"Yeah, actually. That's why I taught you how to walk on all forms of water, moving and stationary, because _air _is even less dense in most places than water."

"Air-walking then?"

"Pretty much. It's a lot like a telekinetic push. A powerful force going in a certain direction, only rather than _pushing _technically you're _pulling_."

She tilted her head to the side. "Explain."

"Well, what you do to Air-walk is condense the air beneath your feet to basically create a 'step'. Rather than water-walking, where you're just creating enough telekinetic force to cancel out water's displacement effect, you're literally forcing air to become almost solid. It's especially useful if there's nothing around that you can use as a platform, like a slab of metal or glass or something."

* * *

"That…was difficult to pull off. Looking back on it, flying is a hell of a lot easier than Air-walking."

"How'd you do it then?" A black man getting his hair trimmed asked.

"Trial and error. He was right when he said it was like forcing air to become solid. You have to force out a small focused blast of telekinetic strength, and then hold it there. He told me it was easiest to practice with a lot of dust, so he kicked up a wall of dirt for me and had me try. And let me tell you, if he hadn't, I _still _wouldn't be able to pull it off."

"Why's that?"

"Because it's hard to imagine an invisible object appearing beneath your feet and standing on it. The dust in the air helped me focus on a solid object. The less that was moving beneath me, the more 'solid' I knew the air was. I got the hang of it…but it was hard. It still is actually. You have to visualize a 'block' of air or something similar, appearing beneath your feet. After you get the hang of doing it, he said that you have to train in getting it done faster and faster, until, just like standing on water, it's a reflex."

"So let me get this straight." Courtney cut in. "You, can fly?"

"Yeah. I'm _nowhere _near as good at it as he is though. He's just…so fast…"

"What do you mean?"

"Like he can go from zero to sixty in almost two seconds. Meaning from standing to anywhere in no time flat. I've watched him do it…he's so talented with it. It's like he was meant for the sky. I've seen him do dives like on a broomstick in a Quidditch match."

"Ha! Harry Potter fan are we?"

"I saw the first one, man it's old…but meh, the books are ok. I like what he's been teaching me more though, I can actually _do _this stuff. Still can't cook for the life of me though…"

The girl working on her hair, Amanda, queried as she started putting the finishing touches on Alma.

"He's teaching you to cook as well?"

"Yeah, he said in a couple months, once we're sure my body is one hundred percent fine, he's gonna teach me how to drive as well."

"Neva got that part there. Why the bloody hell drive if he can fly eh?"

* * *

He was staring at a wall, his back to her. From his very stance she would tell he was serious.

"Listen…Alma…we don't know where these powers came from, or why they suddenly showed up. Maybe it's like X-men and we humans as a race, are evolving, maybe it's just from some freak accident, or maybe with your awakening your pulses changed the very fabric of reality as time passed. But we don't know if it'll be permanent, or if there are dead zones or anything."

"What's a…'Dead Zone?'"

"A pocket of space where something doesn't work. Like how some places on the globe are cell phone dead zones. It's a specific location, or locations, where something can't operate properly, or operates in a severely diminished capacity."

"I…see. And you think these places exist for people like us?"

"If they don't, they will soon. Be it by the will of Man or the will of the Cosmos. Everything that exists has an equal, and opposite force. Hell there could even be a living being created that has the ability to nullify every power any of us have. It could be done by touch, by will, or just by being around them. We don't know, and we won't know until it happens."

He turned to her. "Power…control…focus…it all means nothing if you can't do it in the first place. And someday, there may come a time where there are places where we have to rely on our normal skills. That's why…"

She spoke for him. "That's why you've been helping me work my body as well as my powers…just in case something like that happens…"

"Yeah. It's why I don't just fly all over the place. Could run smack dab into a dead zone and just drop out of the sky. I mean, if I'm going fast enough I could end up shooting out the other end of it before I hit the ground but…"

"Thank you…for that, lovely mental image."

* * *

Everyone laughed at that.

"Alright…here goes." The Amanda whirled Alma around to face the mirror. The raven haired miracle stared at her reflection. Slowly a brilliant smile appeared on her face…and _everyone _got hit with a wave of her spiking emotions, the girls not able to cancel out _that _much power.

"It's **awesome!**"

* * *

Xen was plinking away at the 360 in the girl's living room.

"Yes…yes! No! NO! LEFT YOU ASSHOLE! TUR- FUCKING JUMP KASUMI! Ha! Ha-ha-haHA! TAKE THAT! NO don't…do the thing…I LIVE HOLY FUCK I-died. DAMMIT! …**AGAIN!"**

"There he goes again…playing that damn game…" Lynn sighed.

"Not enough fire in it for my tastes."

"But there's explosions."

"Sometimes. But not enough of the flamey kind."

Alma just shook her head and smiled.

"OI! XEN! We're back you tard-house!"

Xen blinked from his console, calling across the hall.

"What in the HELL is a tard-house?!"

"You, apparently."

Xen turned around to blab at Alma, and froze.

"Ho…ly…"

Alma's cheeks tinted red slightly. But she held her ground.

"Holy goddamn girl…you look _GOOD_."

Indeed she did. Clad in a dark red button up shirt with a black pleated skirt and black socks that reached just below her knees, the now properly aged Alma, looking no older than her early twenties, smiled at Xen as he took in her appearance.

"Niiice. I love the hair too."

Her once ass-length hair was now shortened to just below her shoulder blades, but the biggest difference were the two long bangs framing her face, colored blood red.

"They're a tribute." She explaned. "To the people my son and I have slain in our attempts to free me. This color represents their lost lives, and my grief to have caused that."

Xen nodded solemnly. "I've taught you well it seems."

"That and…I really do owe them…far more than I can give. This is the least I can do. Besides, I like the look anyway."

"Damn right. So, what's next on the-

He stopped as Alma's head snapped to the side, her eyes flaring a frosty blue for a moment.

"What?"

"…he's awake. I don't think he notices me yet, but he's awake."

"…Beckett?"

"Yeah…"

"Wanna go see him?"

"Can I?"

"Hey, you're the one who can cross-country teleport. Just leave a big enough rift for me to squeeze through after you ok? I wanna meet the dude that could hold _you _off without any prior mental training."

"Hehe, alright. Lemme throw my shoes on and I'll head over…give him a big surprise."

"Just don't fuck with him too much ok? I wouldn't be surprised if he was surrounded by armed guards or something."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "I can handle myself thank you."

He held up his hands, smirking. "Never said you couldn't."

"See you in a few then."

She dashed out of the room. A few seconds later they heard a loud ripping noise in the hallway.

"…are you sure about this?" Lynn was concerned.

"He managed to keep her attention, and fight her off through sheer force of will. Not only that…"

"But girl had a thing for him. Gonna pull a big brother on 'im?"

"Nah. She'll probably end up giving him a pants-shitting experience before she drops it all and just says hi. No…there's another goal here. I don't think she's forgotten, but she's probably pushed it out of her mind for now…but he might be able to get us information on finding her son."

"…oh dammit you promised her something didn't you?"

"Sorry Sylph, I told her I'd help her find her son after we made sure she could stand up to anything. Even she couldn't sense him, so we've been hoping he's alright. Beckett…might know something."

"Fine. Just be careful ok?"

"Don't worry about me Kidd. I'll be fine. I better go after her, make sure she stays out of trouble."

"She's like a brat now aint she?"

"Never had a childhood. Died without even realizing she was dead…then comes back to life. I think it's a good thing she's doing this…rather than flipping out and trying to wipe out existence. This is her second chance at life, and be it by fate, or chance, I was the first one to offer her a hand in getting it. I'm not going to fail her…not like…"

"Schala."

"Yeah."

"Arright then, get goin you!"

"Hah, later."

He jumped through Alma's teleportation scar just as it was closing.

"Bloody hell."

"Still have to teach her how to burn things though don't you Kidd?"

"Ehh, that'll come later…Xen's left his fight un-finished. I'm'a kick this clone's ass!"

* * *

**A/N: **Chapter Soundtrack: Entering the store till just before training: Persona 4 - Heartbeat, Heartbreak.

Training: Persona 4 - Backside of the TV

New look: Persona 4 - Smile

Yes, I like Persona music. What of it?

The three girls, known as the "Knights". Glimpses into Alma's training and recovery. Learning more about the man who helped her…and Beckett has awakened!

The next chapter…is when shit starts going down…After Alma has her fun of course.

CF: HA! I found a shorter version! So "Kidd" how'd you like this one? No, no flames for you…yet. The fun stuff starts next chapter. Hope I didn't screw you up too badly.

3r: bloody hell your name is weird. But your writing is incredible. I'm glad I could inspire your Alma. Location description is…tough for me. There's only so many words I can use without sounding repetitive and boring, and it almost NEVER comes out in writing the way I have it in my head. As you'll soon see, _battles are my Forte. _Of course, Alma's thoughts were MEANT to be difficult to follow, yes, even "kid" Alma. Hopefully this one isn't as confusing, I've been trying to get back into the groove of writing out conversations with multiple people.

The Purple Eco Sage: holy crap Jak and Daxter reference much? I can't believe I didn't catch that earlier. Here's the new one, and no, I don't expect many questions to have been answered, don't worry, information will come.

Condor green: Your opinion has been noted, and luckily for you, Beckett has a very large role in this fic. You'll be seeing a good bit more of him from now on. Just note that my interperetation of Beckett has him as a deadpan snarker at times. After the shit he's been through, I think it fits.

As you can see, the chapter titles usually have something to do with the contents. Today's title: Samarecarm is from the Persona/Shin Megami Tensei series. Samarecarm is a magical spell that revives a fallen ally at full health. Pretty apt for what this chapter deals with, no?

Next chapter! Pants-shitting experances! Familiar Faces! Living Assholes! And…wait…are those re-


	4. Awakening

_**Let me out!**_

_This is some De-lux shit!_

_**WHY?!**_

_Ugh…I think they hit my aorta._

_Still climbing stairs._

_I don't care if it's God-fucking-zilla!_

_**She's a woman now…and she doesn't even know it…**_

_Becket…we have to help her…_

_**I'm…back…**_

_I know why she's crying._

_Get out of there Becket!_

_She's the __**Mother of the Apocalypse**__._

_**You can't hide from me.**_

_Who's Alma?_

_Oh god…it's her…_

_**You're asking me to seal my daughter away!**_

_What the FUCK?!_

_They start wagging their tails and shit flies everywhere…_

_**HELP ME!**_

_Alma…_

"Hey."

_**Take care…him…**_

"You know, opening your eyes might help."

He did so.

"Agh…fuck…"

"Yeah…that's gonna happen."

The man blinked his eyes rapidly, clearing them of the sudden brightness that assaulted his vision. He looked around. Apparently he was standing on the beach, waves softly rolling in. He turned and saw a series of hills reaching upwards, apparently what looked like some sort of water-park was not too far from his location.

"Cookie? These things are **really **good."

He turned to his speaker. A little girl with long black hair reaching down to just below her waist was looking up at him. Shimmering sky blue eyes locked onto his, as she held out her hand, a chocolate-chip cookie within. It was around then that he realized how hungry he felt.

"Yeah…thanks."

She nodded, and plopped down on a blue beach towel that seemed to appear from nowhere. She gestured for him to do the same, which he did…after taking a bite of course.

"This isn't real you know."

"mmmhuh?"

She rolled her eyes.

"You're still unconscious. This is…like an in-between world. A place where minds meet. He calls it Splash Garden."

"He who?"

She shook her head. "Doesn't matter. You won't remember anything that happened here for a **long **time. If at all. Let's just say he kept you from having a very…awkward…experience."

"Done. So…what is this place, really…Alma?"

She looked at him. "So you _do _recognize me. Huh…I'll have to keep that in mind. This is…how did he put it…a world created from the meeting of our minds. Since you had no control over anything here, seeing as you've been trapped inside your own head for god knows how long, I just brought us to the most peaceful place I could think of."

"I'm surprised you're not trying to absorb me."

"…that…was a different **me.** She's better now. **We, **are better now. She only wanted one thing, and everyone else could fuck off…but now…she still wants that thing, but she's more…we're more ourself now. I don't think she and I will ever be one being again…but…"

"No idea what any of what you're saying means, but I'm guessing there's two Alma's now?"

"Yeah. I'm her inner self. The representation of her childhood, her past hopes and dreams, before everything went to shit. Which is why I look like her as a kid. The Alma you dealt with for so long was the twisted, angry, fearful mother who'd lost both her children, found one, lost him, found him again, lost him _again _and then finally found the other, only to lose him as well."

"So she was looking for her son…in that morgue?"

"Yeah. I'd explain more but you probably wouldn't remember. You're close to awakening now, and you've almost got her level of power-

"Wait, **almost**? I thought I matched her!"

"You did…for a time. But then we got proper training from someone with a much bigger heart than he should have. You match us in power, but we'll always be stronger than you because we now have the control, skill…and understanding of what we are, and what we can do."

"Damn…"

"Don't worry. She's not out to warp reality anymore. She just wants to find her son…and she's got help with that."

"Right…"

"Anyway, like I said, you're starting to awaken, so she'll probably sense you. Don't be surprised if she starts messing with your head just for the hell of it. You're the second person in the world who didn't outright reject us, so she's got a bit of a soft spot for you."

"She's not gonna…try to absorb me…right?"

"No…that's one power she doesn't want to ever use again unless she has to. No, It's more like she'll probably mess around with your head to make you run into a wall where you thought there was a door, or make you think you're not wearing anything when you're fully clothed…"

"Practical jokes then."

"Yeah…oh come on you'd do the same if you could."

"…probably. Whoa what the hell?"

He saw his hand flicker.

"You're waking up. Don't worry, that's what it looks like in this place. You probably won't remember but…thank you…for holding on so long. You gave us a chance at a real life."

"Yeah…sure…just…ask next time."

He vanished.

"…" She turned back to the sea, gentle breeze blowing her hair wildly behind her.

**F.E.A.R: Resonance Reaction**

**Interval 03**

**Awakening**

"Commissioner Rodney Betters, this, is Sergeant Michael Becket."

The two shook hands. "So you're the guy who went toe-to-toe with Alma."

"Well…more like she kept jumping me every now and then. Trust me, I've got the burns to show for it. That girl's got a solid grip."

Betters just gave a smirk at the subtle innuendo. "Take a seat, wherever."

It had been at least an hour since Becket woke from his long slumber. Kiera Stokes, who made a full recovery, had barely ever left his side. As much as she would have preferred to let Becket rest, she was under orders to bring him in to Betters, to add more information to their report on the Armacham situation, along with Alma.

"This is Jin Sun-Kwon, she was present for much of the aftermath of the events of Paxton Fettel's release."

The Asian woman nodded, shaking both Stokes' and Becket's hands, along with shaking hands with Manuel Morales, who was there on request by Stokes, for he'd been around for some of their 'adventures.'

"I wish my Point Man were here as well…but…we don't know where he is."

"To be honest that's part of the reason why we asked you here. You three are the only survivors out of everything that happened five months ago."

Becket looked around the room. His paranoia was acting up, and usually that meant something was off. He noted the many monitors, each displaying multitudes of information that made his head hurt just by thinking about it. A single coffee mug was on top of the small desk off to the side, and a whole bunch of papers were everywhere.

Stokes was the first to speak. "Honestly, it's all about Becket here…he was right in the shit whenever anything went down."

"I hate to ask so soon after you woke up, but what went on in there?"

"I…can't really say." Becket frowned. "Honestly I'm not sure myself. For most of the whole ordeal I was kinda sitting by the edge of my pants. The last thing I remember is Stokes being shot by Aristide, Alma showing up and knocking the bitch flat on her ass, and then the sphere…closing. I think Alma was leaning in for some reason…but then everything kinda went blank for a bit, and I woke up in a kinda…hazy place."

He had everyone's attention. Jin was scribbling away on a small pad.

"I think…she pulled me into some sort of…mashup of reality. Keegan, Harold Keegan, was there…and he kept spouting stuff about wanting her to 'look at him', and he was really pissed with me, saying she kept her attention on me, and not him. I had to fight him…and lemme tell you it was…strange."

Jin bit the end of her pen. "Can you describe how?"

"He could multiply himself, and while each 'Keegan' could hurt me, only one was hurt **by **me. And he was fast. Very fast. Not only that but he kept teleporting everywhere. I can…only guess I had a bit of help from Alma or something, because each 'round' we went," Here, he made quotation marks in the air.

"all my wounds were healed. I had to 'kill' him three times before he finally got sick of it and tried to suffocate me with his bare hands, and he damn near succeeded. I managed to get him off me, where he seemed to come to his senses for a moment…he…"

He looked away, the memory playing itself in his mind. "He…begged me…to kill him…"

"Shit!"

"Damn…"

Manuel placed a comforting hand on Becket's shoulder. "That's plenty fucked man. But you did him a favor."

"I know. After I…killed him…it all goes blank."

"That must have been when you were in a coma then. The damn thing didn't open for almost three hours, and when it did, you were unconscious."

"I hate to change the subject so abruptly, but…what happened with Alma?"

"I don't know…she didn't contact me or anything after that."

"Uhh…actually…"

Everyone looked at Stokes, who seemed a bit nervous, unlike her usual self.

"I…kinda omitted something from my report. I know the risks, and I know what I could be charged with but…ATC's still got a lot of pull, and I just know they'd find some way to gain access to this stuff…so I left something out…something that may mean absolutely nothing at all, but…I, personally, thought it was important."

"Go on then, we'll deal with the consequences later."

"Well…I kinda fell unconscious…I guess it was the blood loss, but when I came to, the dome had opened…and…Alma…she stepped out…but…"

"But…?"

"There were two."

"…you've got to be shitting me."

"Betters?"

"Explain."

"Actually my reaction wasn't much different than yours. A little girl was kinda, hovering over me, and I saw, I guess Alma's corpse or whatever she is, looking around. I kinda figured that she'd split in two some how. And the little girl confirmed it. Then she kinda ripped the bullet right out of me. She said some stuff, and the older her knocked Aristide out."

"I don't think that's all she did, the woman had a shattered leg…and was, according to mister Morales, stuck in the wall."

"Yeah, Alma did that. But, she blocked the bleeding somehow, which is why I'm still here. And then she told me they were going to find someone to help them, and after that, look for their son."

"Wait, what **kind **of help?"

"I don't know…she didn't say."

Stokes noticed Becket start staring at her.

"…What?"

"…are you wearing a black bra?"

Everything stopped for a moment. Stokes' cheeks flared red as her indignation skyrocketed. Becket was looking straight at her, or rather, her chest, with a combination of confusion and intrigue.

"Excuse me?!"

"Please…answer the question. It's…kinda important." He blinked a few times, but his gaze never moved. Stokes stared open mouthed for a moment before deciding she'd deal with him later.

"Yes. I am. Happy? Was there a point to that?"

"Yes actually." It was now that his gaze lifted. He looked straight at Betters.

"She's nearby."

The color drained from Betters' face. "…wait what?"

"Alma. I asked because I was looking around, and suddenly Stokes' top just started…shredding itself. I kinda figured what I was seeing wasn't exactly real, which is why I asked."

Suddenly he tensed. Unseen to anyone, a pair of arms had snaked their way around his neck from behind.

"…that's odd."

"Hmm?" Alma hummed in his ear.

"I'm not feeling like I'm gonna die."

"Yeah, I kinda dealt with that."

Everyone stared as he turned his head slightly, still rigid, but slowly relaxing. The second his eyes met hers, everyone saw a raven haired young woman materialize behind Becket, her arms around him with her chin resting on his shoulder.

Eyes widened all around.

"The reports said that just getting near you basically killed people."

This time, everyone heard her voice. He'd unknowingly cancelled out her suggestive field.

"Well yeah. I didn't exactly _like _those people."

"Good point. So…is there a reason you're here?"

"Can't I just say hi?"

"You never really struck me as the type."

"Well…that was before, this is now. This is me. Aren't I cute?"

She smiled at him. He couldn't help but smile back. It wasn't control, it wasn't influence…it was just…her.

"You _feel _different."

"Of course. I'm not all 'rawr, crush, kill, destroy' anymore."

"'rawr?'"

"Shut it."

"You gonna introduce yourself to everyone?"

"Huh? Why bother, it's not like they can see me or anything."

Jin cut in. "Yes…actually…we can."

Alma looked right at her and blinked. She frowned and smacked Becket on the back of the head.

"Ow! The hell was that for?"

"Dammit this is the second time today! Everyone's canceling out my fields…Hmph…totally not fair."

Betters got over his shock…well rather, he _forced _himself over it. "I take it you're Alma then."

"Yes. And you're Rodney Betters. The man who led my son to my other son."

"…here for revenge?"

"Honestly? No. I really hate that he's dead…but…we were doing terrible things. And…you helped me find my other son. So actually, I'll thank you instead."

"You aren't…what we expected."

"Jin Sun-Kwon. You're prettier in person."

She blinked. "I…uhh…thank you?"

Alma smiled. "You were in his head. When we linked for that moment. When the shroud that covered his mind faded, and I could see who he was, and what he was doing. He thought quite fondly of you actually."

"I…I see…"

"Actually, besides coming to see how Becky was doing, I was kinda hoping you'd be able to help me find him."

"Your son, you mean."

Alma blinked out of view for a split second, reappearing next to Stokes, crouching.

"Shirt."

"Wh-what?" She was caught off guard by the sudden teleportation.

"Lift your shirt a bit."

Not wanting to piss off the "Mother of the Apocalypse" as Snake Fist called her, Stokes did so.

"Oh good…you can barely see the scar. It comes in your line of work, but you're rather cute, so it'd be a shame for a body like yours to be marked up too badly."

Again, Stokes' cheeks flushed. Being that she was usually spotted as one of 'the guys' it wasn't often people called her cute.

"Th-thanks."

There was a knock on the door. Immediately Alma vanished from view.

"It's open."

In walked Aristide. The armed guard behind her saluted, and closed the door.

"You summoned, Commissioner."

"So, you're still alive, huh?"

Aristide whirled around to see-

"A-Alma?"

"Alive and well, no thanks to you. Honestly I should shred you to pieces for the shit you pulled."

"**But then you'd just be doing her a favor."**

A distortion of air appeared in the far corner of the room. With a loud ripping noise, another person materialized.

"It's about time you showed up. I thought you'd be right behind me." Alma spoke to the new arrival.

"Yeah well you only left a hole to the hospital room. I had to track you down from there."

Alma looked sheepish for a moment. "Sorry Xen…he wasn't there so I kinda panicked for a moment."

"Obviously. The room looked like a tornado hit it."

"Oh come on, you know I suck under stress."

"Yeah, we've still gotta work on that."

Stokes motioned with her head. Becket nodded. "Hey Alma…who's he?"

"He, is my teacher. He's the reason I'm…well…sane."

"I go by the name Xen. I seek out and train people in otherworldly arts, should they have the aptitude."

Becket nodded. "So you're like Professor X."

"Only I'm not as big of a douchebag."

"Professor X isn't a douchebag."

"Yeah he is. Develops a system that can track down any life form on the planet with a thought? Able to project his will onto others with a **thought**? Tells Rogue there aint shit she can do to control her powers, just cause he doesn't know a damn thing about them? Ahoy thar! Douchebag ho!"

Alma smiled at his antics.

"He's a pretty decent psychic, but…he doesn't emit a signature when he uses his telepathy, and I can't figure out why."

"Sore wa himitsu desu."

"He also randomly spouts Japanese at the drop of a hat."

"Fifteen or so years after I'm told, and I still don't know but a few words and phrases."

Alma had 'hopped' over to him, and patted him on the shoulder mockingly.

"You'll get it some day dear."

He stuck his tongue out at her. "So…anything good?"

"They don't know either. I wish you'd just let me scan."

"He's been able to get into your head without training before. Sorry if I don't want him to trigger something that makes you regress."

Betters, seeking information, asked. "Is that possible?"

The brown skinned young man simply shrugged. "Hell if I know. Alma's a special case, so the usual rules don't apply. It's not every day a corpse gets up and within a month re-activates all of its proper bodily functions. Everything new that she pulls off, gets me one step closer to just hauling off and calling her a friggin Goddess."

Alma seemed to brighten at that.

"Don't get your head all big now. You've still got a ways to go before you have the level of control you need."

"I know, I know…but…it's nice, to hear."

"I'm sure it is."

That train of thought would have continued, if not for a very strange warbling noise that emerged from out of nowhere. Betters' head whipped around, looking for the source, his instincts warning him of the possibility of an explosive. He calmed slightly when Xen gave a confused look, and unclipped a strange object from his belt. The brown skinned young man pressed a button on the object, causing parts of its 'face' to glow, and a glowing neon green and blue screen to appear. Lines, numbers and symbols adorned the 'window' portion of the ring shaped screen, things that made his eyes narrow.

He hit the button again, causing the screen to shrink in upon itself, and a single point to emerge from the top of the device. He whipped his arm around, causing the point to lengthen into a long cord, which he then lashed at the nearest computer. The jack-like point connected into the machine, the circular screen emerging again.

Betters was about to demand an explanation, but Xen, sensing the incoming question, held up a single finger to stop him. Seconds later, a young female voice came out of the speakers within the computer monitor.

"Oh good, you answered. Kidd's been freaking out about something. It doesn't make any sense tough."

It was Lynn. Apparently the device was a communicator of sorts.

"What's wrong?"

"Xen, I'm seein a whole lotta nothin'."

"See? It's stupid."

"…nothing huh? Where."

"Wait." Sylph's voice rang through. "You understand her?"

"It's headed toward that big psionic signal we're getting."

"The one…" He closed his eyes. His hair began fluttering in an invisible wind as he focused his mind, building what little outward psychic presence he could. Within seconds he gave a brief flare, the holographic screen warping, and showing a map of the area, with a big ring rapidly expanding repeatedly in the exact spot where Xen and the others were.

"Here?"

"Yeah! That's you I'm guessing right?"

"The one that just showed up now is. The other one…we'll get to that. How big?"

"I'm synching the systems."

The holographic screen shifted planes, from being horizontal to vertical, allowing everyone in the room to see. A giant square about the size of the representation of a city block with a giant question mark in the center of it was moving at a slow pace.

"Dammit what the hell does that mean?!"

"It means I've still got a lot to teach the two of you, if Kidd understood the significance immediately."

"What the hell are you talking about? We don't sense anything!"

"That's exactly the problem. _Something _is covering the radius of a city block and blocking out the psychic presences of anyone in the radius."

Alma piped up from behind him. "Wait, is that a 'dead zone'?"

"You remembered…" He smiled at her briefly. "No, a dead zone is something else entirely, and doesn't move. This…"

He looked down for a moment. When he looked back up, his eyes were hard.

"I know what this is. It's not any one thing. It's a group of things."

"What 'things' could DO something like this?!" Lynn was confused and irritated. Being the oldest she was used to being the first to understand, the first to catch things…but the youngest member did, and seemed to understand something that only Xen did.

"…Replicas."

"WHAT?!"

"Impossible, they aren't active without a psychic-

"No shit. There's only four people in the known country that have the power to control those things, and only three of them would understand anything the Replica's sent back. One of them is dead, the other is right behind me, and the last…we don't know where he is."

"Fettel, Becket and the other dude."

"Exactly. Fettel's dead, Becket's behind me, and we don't know where _he _is. But if _they _are active, that means ATC has him, and is controlling him."

Alma's eyes flared.

"Calm down girl. …I've got a plan. Listen up you three. I want a full on scan on my mark."

"What good'll that do?" Sylph wondered.

"I've…tangled with these things before."

"When the bloody hell was this?!"

"About a few days after the big boom. I flew over to Auburn to see if I could find any survivors. All I found was confused and terrified angry spirits…and Replicas. Listen, the file on them is incomplete, ATC didn't get an accurate reading on what they're capable of."

"Bullshit. We made those things, we know everything about them!"

"Fine then. Did you know that they have very slight outward telesthetic abilities?"

"Wh-what? No they don't."

"Yes, they do. It's very slight. But what goes on is this: A psychic commander links minds with the Replicas, causing them to awaken. They're like computers though, no thoughts of their own, which makes it so that if another psychic is scanning the area, it'll feel like there's a big blank, which isn't natural.

Second, due to the link between minds, not only do they have a link to the commander, but also each other. Though the link between Replicas is weak, it amplifies what little psychic power they have, which makes a low grade psionic barrier around their bodies. Stokes, didn't you notice that no matter how many rounds you pumped into the fuckers, it took _forever _for them to drop?"

"Yeah actually…but…Becket didn't have that problem."

"That's because he too was creating a low-grade barrier. The thing is, when a fresh psychic becomes aware, their power responds directly to their will, in whatever manner possible. His rounds were charged with small bits of his psychic energy, which met and cancelled out the weak fields around the Replicas, allowing his shots to do full damage. The field also augments their speed and strength slightly, allowing them to move faster, and hit harder, but since they don't know this, it's more of a fluke when they pull it off."

"Yeah…getting hit by them sucked. Hurt like a bitch, even if I blocked it."

"And finally, because of the massive web of minds, when one dies, it creates a small disturbance along the strand of mentality that connects them. The more painful the death, or the bigger the amount killed in one move, the stronger the disturbance."

"Y'know…" Becket had a hand on his chin. "Now that I think about it…whenever I blew a few to hell, with a rocket or a grenade, I did notice the closest ones kinda…trip. I thought it was from the blast though."

"It's a combination of both. The sudden jarring feeling of something being ripped away from you makes you pause for a moment."

Jin was scribbling everything down. But she just had to ask. "Well thank you for that updated lesson, but how does that mean anything now?"

"Background information. I know why they're active."

"Well?"

"They're after Becket."

"Oh god dammit."

"But that's not all. They're after Becket, but controlled by Alma's Son."

Alma had her head bowed.

"Not only that, but like mother like son I guess. He's probably sending those things after Becket to remove his presence from the area, which makes finding Alma a lot easier. Right now," He turned to Becket. "You and Alma are about equal in terms of power. She beats you in skill though. Which means that right now, your signal is enough to make hers hard to sense, and since I'm blocking her mind from outward presences that aren't filtered through myself, he effectively can't sense her at all. So, much like Alma did, he's going to take out the presences blocking his path, so he can get a clear shot at her. But since he doesn't seem to have the control, or movement range that our dear Alma did, he's stuck using the Replicas to do his bidding. Which probably annoys the piss out of him considering how he had to fight them off himself."

"Ok…so what are we doing?"

"The plan is simple. Kill the Replicas, my girls track the pulses and find the most likely point where ATC has him. After that, we prepare, and storm the place."

Alma's head snapped up. "I like this idea."

"You won't for long dear."

"Why's that?"

"Two things. One, I want you to **absorb **some of the scientists there."

Her eyes widened.

"We need to know what they know. And they might have done something to your son that makes it hard to _not _kill him. I'd like to try to save at least _one _other Wade family member."

She lowered her head and nodded.

"Second…I'm going to be fighting them. Alone."

"Bullshit! Even Becket-

"I'm not Becket. I'm not your Point Man. I'm someone completely different. We can't risk Becket getting taken out by a lucky shot, and Alma is out of the question. My girls are going to be too busy tracking to help, and there's no need to lose good soldiers to an enemy their weapons won't do much damage to."

Becket frowned. "Let's say we go with your plan. They're still after me. And since you just said you don't want me dead by fluke, how are you going to get them to you?"

Xen simply smiled grimly.

"It's time I stopped hiding."

"WAIT A GODDAMN MINUTE!"

"Yes Lynn?"

"What the hell are you-, Do you have any idea what you're saying?! You haven't done **that **in _years!_ It could **kill **you!"

"Only if I try to stop it prematurely, will any backlash happen. If I let it run its course properly nothing bad will happen. Except to them. They'll get wrecked."

"You're insane. You're fucking insane!"

"Besides…we don't know how strong her Son is. Even if we'd managed to avoid this situation, I'd probably have to Unlock against him anyway. I can be a heartless bastard, but even I wouldn't dare ask a mother to stand against her son alone."

"An insane bastard with too big a heart."

"When do you want us to start?"

"_**NICOLE!"**_

"He's gonna do it anyway. Best to help him out while we can control the situation, rather than have him do this for nothing."

"Ugh, nuts, the both of you."

"Look…" Xen sighed. "We don't need another Schala incident."

"…just had to bring that up didn't you?"

"Sorry."

"FINE. We'll do it. But…you better promise you'll be okay."

"Well I know it's not likely I'll get hurt from those worthless constructs. Besides, this gives me a chance to test out a few things…there's just one last thing I need…"

He turned to Betters. "This is your base, know any spots big enough for a full-on battle with probably over a couple hundred super-soldiers?"

"We've got a big training area behind the facility. It's about a klick behind this place."

"Perfect. Alright, I want it known that _nobody _is to engage the enemy other than myself. The training area is to nullify civilian casualties, and I want to keep military casualties as close to none as possible. That means letting them pass your airspace without any interruption. It's against protocol, I know, but this is important. Your forces would be near decimated…actually no, your forces _would _be decimated, because since I'd be forced to Unleash anyway, it's likely I'd wipe out a fair few friendlies during the initial stages of it in the first place, let alone once I get focused into the battle. The last thing I need is…hey…come on, cheer up Alma, we're about to find your son."

She shook her head. "But you're going to hurt yourself doing it."

"No I'm not. The last time I did this I had to cut it short, the backlash of having roughly the same level of psychic energy you have, shoved back into the recesses of my mind is what hurt me. Doing it helped me actually."

She looked at him and sighed. "Fine…what is it you want me to do?"

Here he looked a bit uncertain. "I need you to match frequencies with Becket."

"Why?"

"Please?"

She looked at him, calculating. "Alright. Give me a minute."

The girls knew why though. Releasing 'himself' meant that his mind was no longer disrupted…

"Done."

"Damn…I can barely sense you at all. Alright, I'm gonna be taking out that part of myself in your head for a little bit. Just stay synched with Becket and you should be fine. He's going to be focused on me anyway."

"I still don't like this."

"Haha, trust me, you'll see that there's nothing to worry about."

"Girls, you'll know when to start. I'm gonna be out of contact for a while."

"We know."

"Be careful big bro."

"I will."

* * *

A large field behind the compound. In the center, surrounded by rubble, broken looking buildings, shattered windows, and hole filled targets on wooden posts stood Xen. He'd given his jacket to Alma.

"If the bastards get a lucky shot through, I don't want this thing getting ruined. It was a gift from a friend, and I haven't had the chance to reinforce it yet."

Speaking of which; Alma and the others stood at the far end of the dusty field, inside a concrete structure with a single large neigh-unbreakable glass window. The field was a testing area for tactics, weapons, explosives, and all manner of situation.

Unseen to them, for he had is back turned, Xen closed his eyes, as he delved within his mind. What they did see however, was how a small ring of dust had pooled at his feet, swirling in a silent wind. His hair began to flutter in the waves of telepathic will he began emitting, and Alma reflexively stepped slightly closer to Becket. Interestingly enough, her action made her cloaking maneuver stronger, making it even harder for any to sense her, for her.

_It's been almost a decade since I last did this…_

His thoughts seemed to echo within his own mind, as all his senses shut down. Deeper and deeper into the recesses of his psyche he dove, seeking the one thing that would help him.

_It's been years…since __**she **__died. Since she changed everything…Is this right? Is this what you meant? …well, I guess it doesn't matter…I'm doing what you told me to do anyway. I'm doing what I believe is right…because that's all anyone can do. I'm going to help her. No matter what it takes. I'll cleanse this world of those horrible creatures…and then…I'll find him._

The pressure buildup reached its limit. Even those present without psychic abilities could feel the tension in the air…and then suddenly…everything stopped.

_This is my will. This is my way. This is my __**Desire.**__ Come to oblivion. Accept your end with dignity and grace. That is all you can do…for you without life…cannot grasp this one single truth…_

He spoke. He spoke and his words seemed to echo in the wind, all present hearing him clear as day.

"_**Subarashiki…kono sekai." (It's a wonderful world.)**_

* * *

A massive wave of air erupted from his body, the psychic force unleashed kicking up a solid wall of dirt. With it, a powerful pressure engulfed the area, as Alma and Becket both collapsed to their knees, clutching their heads, fighting furiously against the sudden screeching noise invading their minds. Like the claws of rabid beasts streaming across a chalkboard, a horrible wailing sound rung within their mental spaces, a loud, triumphant roaring sound, the cry of the unleashed demon within. The screeching faded slightly, as their minds adjusted to the new signal being cast by Xen's soul.

The first thing that went through their mind was thus.

Power.

Power beyond their greatest comprehension.

Not of the mind. But of something different. Something arcane…something that every living thing knows…and yet something that cannot be placed.

"Wait…what the hell?"

It was then that Xen's form began to flicker. A distortion appeared, localized around his head. In seconds the change was apparent. His hair flickered from pitch black…to stark white in the blink of an eye.

It was then that they heard it. The sound of helicopters flooded the area, ten choppers each containing twenty replicas broke through their airspace…and just as he'd commanded, not one was fired upon. Loud thunks were heard as each one dropped ten, odd looking pods onto the ground. Cords then descended from the craft, as the replicas slid down the ropes, landing and getting into position behind whatever cover they could.

Xen's head was bowed through the entire thing. The replicas all pointed their weapons at him, as their rides took off…only to whirl around and stare in surprise as one by one, each helicopter suddenly buckled. The high-pitched whine of squealing metal upon metal rang through the dusty field as they all were suddenly and inexplicably crushed, section by section, into gigantic metal cubes that suddenly exploded in the air, the volatile fuels, explosive rockets, and remaining weaponry on board triggering detonation.

Flaming pieces of metal dropped from the sky with enormous crashes, kicking up walls of dust and dirt.

Only one move was made.

Xen's head rose slightly, to take in the sight of those classified as his enemies.

Exclamations of shock rang through the field, before the replicas' will was once again held in check. As one, the present replicas turned to the source of the powerful psychic signal.

"OPEN FIRE!"

A hail of gunfire roared through the air. Thousands upon thousands of small metal objects rocketing towards Xen's form.

He just stood.

In seconds, they all stopped, having to reload their weapons.

He stood unharmed.

There was almost nothing. A few bullets landed to the ground, others…seemed to vanish into thin air. Few noticed it, but some of the more special replicas saw brief ripples of air in front of him. They all reacted to the new commands being sent into their minds. The replicas spread out, taking cover and creating a much wider range to attack from.

* * *

Alma felt strange. Not moments before the helicopters exploded, she felt something…heavy…pass over her. It was a different pressure from the psychic output Xen had displayed just before. This one…it felt familiar.

She watched in surprise as he just stood there. Unmoving. She knew it was highly possible to stop even bullets with a telekinetic wall…but to make them disappear like that? She had sent out a very weak scan, but found nothing else littering the battlefield other than the pieces of the helicopters, which were still on fire.

It was then that she noticed a twitch.

* * *

_Five in front. Pull._

Xen finally moved. He stepped to the side...for apparently no reason. Nobody was firing at him. Seconds later, five replicas in front of the exact point in front of him were crushed by the burnt husk of one of the many destroyed helicopters. Blood splattered to the ground, dripping off the side as the burnt, bent and twisted frame floated lazily upwards, right where Xen was standing before.

The commander quickly got over his surprise and demanded the closest group to fire. They did so, only to fail in their attempt to stop Xen as the bullets seemed to be absorbed by the rippled air again, like before, some remaining, some dissipating.

He turned to stare at them, and the helicopter behind him shuddered as it seemed to twist apart into two separate pieces. In an instant, another command shot through their minds as the two halves rocketed towards them. The group of six scattered, diving to the sides as the twin metal husks tore through the air where they once stood. For a moment, they thought they were safe, before a sudden unusual pressure pooled around them. They all turned as one, to see Xen, slowly floating in the air, curling up into a ball as he did so, a massive distortion around him.

In seconds he flung his arms and legs out, the sphere shaped dome rippling out, engulfing and **obliterating **all six replicas around him. Bloody fragments and chunks of flesh tore through the air as their bodies seemed to just rip themselves apart from whatever it was Xen just did.

But one thing stayed. **He never touched the ground. **Xen's feet floated above a two foot deep crater made by his field. He floated around, turning to spot the remaining replicas. He leaned forward slightly, and in an instant, he vanished.

* * *

"Did that just happen? Did he just-

"Yes. Yes he did."

Stokes was horrified and amazed at the same time. Becket simply stared, a hard look on his face.

"Alma-

"I don't know. I don't know anything…I…I never knew…holy crap he's doing things I never even _imagined _were possible!"

**That's because you're still thinking too linearly!**

_Is it really?_

**Yes! We have even more power than he does, if only just. But he has the imagination we were never able to fully explore! He can do this because he believes he can, so he does!**

_I wonder…if it's really that simple._

* * *

The group scattered as his form materialized within their view. He placed a single foot out to halt his momentum, touching ground for a moment. He turned to the nearest replica, who was running backwards, shooting all the while. Xen reached out with his right hand, and made a grasping motion. He pulled, and the replica flew right towards him. Xen spun on his right heel, bringing his left leg back and around, knocking the replica straight to the ground with a crushing blow. He made another grasping motion, and flung his arm around, the replica's body dragging along the ground before flying into the air and slamming into another replica.

It was time to get serious.

He reached towards the ground beneath another replica, making a flicking motion with two fingers towards the heavens. The ground seemed to warp for a moment before the dirt appeared to become solid, rapidly rising from the ground and piercing straight through the replica's weak armor. He made another motion, grasping at both the earthen spire that had leapt from the ground, and the body of the replica impaled upon it. In one hand he directed the spire into the head of one shooting at him, while flicking his hand out towards the limp body, launching it in the path of a fleeing replica. The one fleeing was tripped up by the body of his dead comrade, and fell right into the gunfire of another.

It was then that the Commander got serious as well. The pods opened suddenly, another hundred or so replicas emerging, only they, were carrying rocket launchers. Each one positioned themselves and fired. Over a hundred streams of smoke launched themselves at Xen, who simply watched everything.

Suddenly…they all slowed. Each one slowed to a stop just before Xen, who was now surrounded by such a heavy distortion, the air around him seemed to have turned black. And then, they exploded. As one, each rocket detonated…but to everyone's surprise, and the replicas' fear, the flames of the explosions seemed to spiral around the newly formed dome, before the very world seemed to warp for a moment, colors inverting in the eyes of all that beheld this fight, and the flames shot out in a ring, burning each pod-based replica to a crisp instantly.

There were now about ninety left. All of them scattered about. Their weapons were useless…and now, their lives were forfeit.

Xen seemed to stop for a moment, pressure building around him again. It was then that everyone noticed tiny glints of light, the scattered bullets and their casings all over the battle field. They all seemed to rocket straight for Xen, who had his arms crossed, palms facing outward. Small streams of dirt seemed to lift from the ground and spiral in front of his hands, as the fragments of metal seemed to morph and twist, merging together with the dirt into two blobs roughly the size of a human head. The blobs then began contorting, edges forming and vanishing at random, before they seemed to compress and flatten into two small disks. He made a clawing motion with both hands, and the disks seemed to form four even shaped grooves, before they appeared to compress again, becoming razor sharp.

He flung his arms out, the mock-shuriken buzzing through the air like saws. The makeshift blades spiraled around the area, slicing arms and legs, and even heads off in single passes. It was then that the Commander became afraid, much like his mother before him.

_**WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!**_

The hidden man screamed through the channels of the mind, a yell so loud that even those without the power could hear.

But it wasn't that that was important. No. It was the response.

"…watashi wa…"

* * *

"**Shinzaki, Zero." **(I am Zero Shinzaki)

Everyone blinked. Suddenly Alma clutched her head as her inner self screamed out in recognition.

**I KNOW HIM!**

_You, we do?_

**YES! He's the one that- that- oh DAMMIT! I can't say it yet. Damn what am I missing? What's the last piece before I can finally tell you?!**

_Piece? What's going on here? What do you know that I don't?_

**A lot. Far too much. That's it! The riddle…I haven't figured it out yet!**

"Uhh Alma…where'd he go?"

Alma's head snapped up, staring at the spot 'Zero' once stood.

"Wait what's that?!"

Stokes pointed to the air above them, where a small speck could be seen.

It was then that the entire area seemed to heavily distort. The world tinted black for a moment, as a wall of…something…began closing in from behind them. The wall washed over them in a manner of seconds, continuing to shrink. Dust, pieces of wood, metal, glass…small bits began lifting off the ground, picked up by the strange 'wall', almost like a scoop.

It was then that Alma's head began buzzing slightly, a voice ringing within her mind.

"…_l…a…A…ma…Alma….Alma! Alma! Can you hear me?"_

"Sylph?"

"_Oh good, you can hear me. We've got a rough estimate of where the signal is coming from. We can't get in touch with __**him, **__so they figured they'd have me…wait what? Rapidly falling readings…what are you-_

_Hey, something's happening over here. I don't know what it is. This blackish…wall thing just showed up and-_

"_FUCK! He's gonna do __**that?! **__Alma, listen, you __**have **__to throw up a psychic field! It's too late to get away now!"_

_But…he said-_

"_SCREW WHAT HE SAID! He's forming a __**Singularity! **__You do NOT want to get caught in that! Throw up a barrier, NOW!"_

The sphere, for that's what it apparently was, had shrunk to just around Zero's body. His form seemed to flow out of the now pitch black orb, before it shrunk further, to just in the palm of his hand. As he pulled his arm back, orb hovering just in front of his palm, a sudden twinge went through his mind. A familiar, and dangerous presence had just appeared…but for now, he had business to finish.

Thrusting his palm forward, the pitch black orb lazily flew at an angle to the direct center of the battlefield.

"GET DOWN!"

Everyone dropped as a dense wall of telekinetic power washed over the group. The black orb past by them harmlessly…settling in the dead center of the field.

He snapped his fingers.

Light inverted for a split second, as winds picked up suddenly. Dust and other objects began spiraling towards the black distortion, growing more and more violent. Slowly, the pods used by the replicas picked up and flew into the orb…bending, narrowing…and finally disintegrating as soon as they neared it. The replicas themselves faired no better, as many of them were pulled off the ground by an unseen force. Bodies crashed together, limbs twisted and shattered, clothing and armor seemed to shred to particles…

And then it went boom.

The small orb detonated, rapidly growing in size to a whale sized orb, and then growing even larger to the size of a military carrier. Everything in its path was engulfed into its depths.

Alma struggled against the pull of the orb, anchoring her psychic field to the ground, barely hanging on…and then it stopped.

The orb flickered and faded from existence, shrinking back to its original size, before a 'poit'-like popping noise signaled its departure. Anything not shattered to atoms by the force of the sphere, dropped to the ground harmlessly.

* * *

Alma slowly rose. Along with her did rise the others. Her head was swimming, her vision flickering between what was real, and memories hidden by a fragment of the human subconscious that not even she had power over. Bits of words, actions…images swam through her mind, clipped, distorted. Blurry. She didn't register when her body lifted off the ground. She felt neither the impact of her form against the concrete wall that once was the shelter for them to hide in, nor the pressure placed upon her form, taking her breath away, forcing her to gasp for air.

It wasn't until the two spinning blades of death had neared her did her consciousness snap back into place, as her inner self roared at her.

**MOVE!**

Her eyes snapped open, focus returning, two gleaming objects hauling ass towards her body. She struggled against the pressure pinning her to the wall before vanishing with a loud tearing noise, mere seconds away from being impaled.

* * *

"Shit, I lost the connection again!" Sylph exclaimed. Her eyes had snapped open only moments prior.

"What the fuck is going on over there?!" Lynn was getting frantic. She could sense her once significant-other releasing far more power than she'd ever sensed before. She didn't expect an answer…but one was given to her anyway.

"**Target threat level elevated…"**

The two girls looked to the rigid form of Kidd, who stood staring into space, her eyes gleamed over, tinted red. The words she spoke were toneless, without feeling…but it was what was spoken next that put them all into action.

"**Activate Termination Protocol."**

* * *

Alma reappeared. She dropped to her knees, panting, finally registering just how close to suffocating she was.

"System: Activate."

Her head snapped to Zero's form. He held out a single hand, palm facing the ground. A strange ripple of air seemed to form before his palm, which was echoed by the ground beneath him. A heavy rumbling filled the battlefield as the ground itself seemed to warp before a literal wall of massive spikes rose from the earth, starting from where he stood, and racing at an incalculable pace towards Alma.

Her eyes widened in shock as she quickly stumbled to her feet and started running in the opposite direction. She dove to the side, doing a short range teleport for added measure, narrowly evading the torrent of sharpened ground.

**MOVE!**

As soon as she appeared, her inner self screamed at her again. She jumped to the side, almost being struck by one of the remains of the concrete barrier that once served to protect those within. The moment she landed, her senses flared danger as his form materialized next to her, in a ripple of air similar to the distortions she creates when she teleports…only his was completely silent. She turned her head, eyes wide, only to stare at raging crimson orbs. She felt his hand gently place itself on her stomach, almost lovingly…before a massive pressure wracked her body and she was rocketed backwards.

She let out a sharp cry of pain as she slammed into the ground, the force of the landing flipping her over, landing her on her front. She shuddered and coughed harshly for a moment, watching as red fluid flew from her lips. The sight sent a chill down her spine, one that triggered the rage she'd once carried for so long. Her hair began fluttering as those not involved in the sudden and unexpected battle watched the air around her haze up like a hot summer's day. Her eyes turned a fierce crimson, matching his, as a hazy strand of distorted air wrapped around a series of objects. Broken cars, pieces of buildings, trees, boulders, many things not destroyed by the **Singularity **were suddenly lifted off the ground. Alma loosed an animalistic growl in his direction as everything launched at him.

He simply walked forward. Every few seconds an object would burst into particles upon reaching him. As each object she sent at him seemed to explode into nothingness, her rage began to be replaced by immense fear.

**Oh god…what the hell is this?! Why is he doing this?!** _You think I know?_

"D-dammit Xen…what's wrong with you?!"

* * *

"All threats must be terminated."

Becket watched with gritted teeth as the now white haired youth motioned gently. With a loud crash, part of one of the broken choppers not destroyed in the giant black orb rose from its dirt covered grave.

"Dammit…I've had enough!" He made to move to Alma's aid, only to seize up as Zero turned his gaze upon him.

_W-what the hell?_

"Don't interfere."

He spoke without emotion, almost like a being possessed. A wave of pressure washed over everyone present, forcing all who weren't Alma to their knees, and then their stomachs as the pressure made their bodies feel heavy like lead.

_No! _**They're fine! Worry about what's in front of us! **_I can't beat him! Nothing I do has any effect!_

To demonstrate, Alma loosed a potent blast of will towards him. The dust around her kicked up as the air seemed to crack from the force thrown into it. However, the attack did nothing, for the distortion around Zero seemed to force it to part around him.

**He thinks we're a threat? **_Why the HELL would he think that?!_

Almost as if in response to her question, she was treated to a brief vision.

* * *

_He…blocked me. I couldn't get into his mind. Well, that wasn't about to stop me…but then I realized something._

_He…not dead. Why? Why live? Why not melt? Why not go gooey?_

_It was…odd. Nobody, not even my own son could resist my field. Anyone I got near, usually started melting into bloody flesh until nothing was left but a burned out skeleton. But this one…other than his eyes going bloodshot from lack of air (hell he was even grabbing onto my arm with both hands and nothing was happening!) nothing seemed to happen to him._

_WHY?!_

_I screamed in my mind. I lashed out at him again, throwing my full force against his mind._

_Still nothing._

_I glared at him, our eyes locked…and I watched as his eyes seemed to flicker red. I blinked. That was…unexpected. But then what followed was what got me going._

_**Images slammed into her mind. She saw herself, holding the strange brown skinned man.**_

_That wasn't too bad…but then after that left, I started noticing something._

_Air…bend?_

_The air around us was beginning to ripple and distort. I knew it __couldn't __have been me; I hadn't been focusing my power at that moment…_

_Him?_

_I stared at him, curious. That curiosity turned to slight fear as the lights in the room started to dim…no…it wasn't the lights that dimmed. Whatever he was doing…or trying __**not **__to do, for he looked like not only was he struggling to breath, but struggling against himself, was bending the light around us._

_**Another image. She held him tightly. And then his hair began to waver in an invisible wind. His eyes seemed to turn completely red, and she watched as her hand suddenly began to shred into particles. Even her blood was 'erased' by the now almost pitch black dome around the man. In seconds, she saw herself turned to tiny almost invisible shreds, like dust particles, by a rapidly expanding sphere of distorted air.**_

_I screamed and let him go, stumbling backward. He dropped to the ground coughing, and the sudden oppressing force I felt, vanished._

_WHAT ARE YOU!?_

* * *

…_oh. _**…yeah. That'd do it.**

Alma gasped and slammed her concentration to full, teleporting out of the way of a spinning tree trunk. The wooden projectile slammed into the ground, kicking up a wall of dust, which began spiraling towards Zero's outstretched hand.

**Dammit we can't beat him like this…I need to figure out what the hell that riddle was! **_Well TELL me dammit! _**I…oh wait…I CAN!**

"_Our power…is that of nature itself. It is a power that has existed since the beginning of time. Something that can overcome even the brightest stars in the sky. Not even light can escape its grasp."_

Alma waved her hand at a nearby lamp post and flung it at Zero, who responded by sending a metal door to intercept it. He stepped left, letting a spinning bench fly past him, and Alma flinched, giving a small shriek, throwing her arms up.

In a move that surprised even Zero, if only for a moment, the wooden bench burst into flame, and quickly into ash moments later.

"Pyrokinetics detected. Altering attack."

He crossed his arms over his head for a moment, before flinging them out, hands formed as if they were gripping something tightly. A massive wave of air washed over the field, and a loud booming noise rung true as a wall of dust filled the air.

_Shit I don't even know how to properly control my flame…and already he's managed to snuff it out. _**It's not telepathy…then what the hell can force things to move around like that? How the hell can he do what he can do?!**

Alma's skin became marred with small cuts as the particles of dirt and small fine pieces of glass began swirling around rapidly. She threw up a tight shield and flung out both hands in front of her, grabbing a massive slab of rock that had chipped off of the big crater in the far point of the field. Sweat began rolling down her forehead, matting her dual-colored hair to her face as she nearly overexerted herself to lift and direct the piece of ground.

_Not even light can escape? I don't fucking know…it could be Gravity for all we-_

She froze. Immediately both minds realized the same thing.

_**Gravity.**_

Her arms dropped loosely to her sides as her primary consciousness became assaulted by _every _memory that her secondary experienced in her encounters with Zero's inner mentality.

It was that moment, when she'd stopped resisting him, that he flung his hand out. Her body lifted off the ground and slammed into a wall that had rose right behind her. Two parts of one of the remaining helicopter's blades rose and bent, segmenting into five, and crashing over parts of her body, pinning her to the slab of concrete.

"Perish."

The ground buckled beneath him as the very earth itself rose and was crushed above his head. The air around the massive ball of stone and mulch shuddered as the sphere twisted until it became a solid point. The makeshift spear rotated twice, before it froze in position.

* * *

_I…I remember…I remember everything…I understand now…who he is…why…I felt so safe around him._

**Finally…the conditions are met. We're on the same wavelength again.**

_I'm stuck…I can't…I can't believe I tried to kill not only my son…but my best friend as well…_

**It's alright. I didn't recognize him either. I don't think even he remembers. …there must have been a reason, he must have known his true self didn't come to terms with us being so close to him.**

_And by unleashing…_

**He released the part of him that survives…and erases anything that threatens him. That's why he had us hide within Becket's aura.**

_Then I'm screwed._

**Not yet. We're not done yet.**

_I'm stuck here little me. He's got me pinned._

**Yes…but now that we're once again in harmony, now that our wills are once again **_**Resonating **_**I can manifest.**

_But you're still me! What can you do?!_

**Just watch.**

* * *

The spear was inches away…when it suddenly stopped.

Standing before Alma's pinned form…was a little girl in a red dress, arms spread wide.

"It's alright Zee. You don't have to fight her anymore. She's not a threat anymore."

Zero's body, his mind, froze.

"You…you are…"

"It's me…remember? You said we'd meet again, and we did. So please…you don't have to kill her. She's no danger to you."

"You…and her…"

"She's the other me. You remember right?"

"The…other…" The spear dropped to the ground. "Al…ma?"

Suddenly he clutched his head. A massive wave of psychic force tore out of his body. The sudden appearance of such power made the little Alma fall flat on her butt, watching as a **massive **distortion engulfed her only friend. The hazy air seemed to swirl around him, the spiral facing inward, as if something was being absorbed, before it appeared to detonate, the air around him loosing a loud shattering sound…before he dropped to his knees, a blank look in his eyes…and landed flat on his face.

"Zero…? Zero!" She crawled to her feet and trotted over to his side, skidding on her knees to stop next to him, ignoring the sharp pain in her legs as her flesh was scraped off from the friction.

"Zee, come on wake up Zee!"

It was then that the others could finally stand. The pressure around them vanishing as the air shattered. Becket quickly helped Stokes up before rushing to the older Alma's side. He could do naught but watch as she tore the bindings off with her will alone, dropping to the ground in a crouch, watching her other self crying over Zero's unconscious body, clutching him to her.

* * *

The three were on the road, following the remnant trails of nothing when the wave of force washed over the world. The car swerved and crashed into a nearby building as all three of their minds were overloaded temporarily by the sudden mental wave. While the car was totaled, they were completely unharmed, and easily climbed out of the wreckage. Considering that many electronic devices had suddenly stopped working, theirs wasn't the only accident. However, they were forced to shake off the brush with death when Kidd went rigid again, speaking only two words.

"**Connection…Terminated."**

* * *

**A/N: **Holy hell on a pita. 37 full pages before AN, this being the 38th. Next chapter features mind to mind contact, so if any of you don't want to endure crazy crap happening, this is the point to stop at.

As for the rest of you…well…I hope you like over-the-top, because in the next chapter, the Almas go inside Zero's head!

CF: I'm glad you like your rendition in this world. I think you'll quickly see that she's got the tightest connection to our dear Zero, next to Alma. Soon Kidd's skills will be shown though. And yes, to answer a future question, that was from Witch Hunter Robin.


	5. Mentality

**Interval 04**

**Link**

"**Mule Teiwaz Ar Tonelico."**

(BGM: At Tonlico 2 - Inferl Sphere)

Becket blinked for a moment. It was weird enough floating in front of that giant symbol, but now…

"The hell? Music?"

"Shh. This is his mind, anything goes the way he wants it to here."

"Yeah but still…"

The two descended to the platform of light that had formed from the lowest triangle of the unusual symbol. With Alma next to him, Becket was still very uncertain about this 'operation.'

The purpose, was to 'dive' into Zero's mind, and forge a connection between him and Alma…or rather, re-open the connection between them. The words she spoke before, were the only keywords that worked for some reason. The three girls, three of his 'Knights' had guided Alma and subsequently Becket through the 'diving' process.

Because his mind was locked down so securely, and because he had already locked the trio out of his mind before the lockdown occurred, only Alma and in some sense Becket, could enter. As such, the youngest, the one called Kidd, had given Alma an idea for an access code, considering that during times of stress, Zero's mind would function more like a machine than that of a human.

"The hell are they saying anyway?" The words were unintelligible. Sure, he could hear them fine, and even possibly mimic them after a bit, but they made no sense.

"It's Hymnos. The girls can sing it fine, but Zero really wants to _learn _it."

"And…what's Hymnos?"

"A language of Song…emotion…it's very difficult to explain, you'd have to ask him. And even then, he's still learning, so he doesn't even know everything."

The path had led them to right in front of the bottom most triangle, where it originated from. Alma placed a hand on the glowing barrier, and it passed through.

"I guess that means we can go in."

The two stepped through, the black shape rippling like the surface of a lake.

* * *

"Well, this is interesting. Last time it was those three, now it's you two. Here to try your luck in waking him up I presume?"

Both Becket and Alma blinked at the speaker. They'd arrived at a giant gate, a wall separating his inner mind with the rest of his 'world.' In front of it, stood a woman.

She looked to be in her mid to late twenties. Long reddish-pink hair flowed down to just below her rear, and two glowing blue orbs stared at them with interest. She wore a blood red trench-coat over a black and red tank-top. A black skirt with blood red trim covered down to her knees, and strapped to her back were a pair of dark grey pistols.

"Who-

"I am Ruki. The First of his Guardians."

"I…Guardians?" Alma was confused.

"Mental constructs born of his will and pain. We were created initially to keep stability within his mind, by fragmenting parts of himself and forming them into separate hidden shadow personae. After a time, the emotions he used to create us, combined with his needs, and we became almost complete 'real' beings within him."

"Wait…he never told me about this…"

"I'm not surprised. It's a closely guarded secret. Even now, in this world of confusion, this growing world where that which once wasn't, is, a…maneuver…such as creating us, would cause problems were the information public. We are his Shadows, we are his Family…we are of Him."

"So he's like your God then." Becket pointed out. The response surprised him. She shook her head.

"More like…he is our Father, and our Brother. Our son, and our Love. We are of his Ego, and yet we are of our own. It's a very confusing situation, all I can say is he made us not in his image, but in various forms to be able to protect himself. After a time, protection became secondary, as we were upgraded to roles of Advisors. He has an idea, and reflects it to all of us, seeing multiple possibilities at once."

"Like me…" Alma muttered to herself. "So are you the Gatekeeper?"

"For now, yes. I am here to make sure the Unworthy do not pass…and administer the test to see who is. I sense a connection to you, girl. Who are you?"

_I thought she knew…wait…I get it. _"I am Alma Wade. I seek to restore Zero Shinzaki to his physical form."

"You seek to strengthen the ties that bind the two of you then. You understand what will happen should you fail?"

"Yes."

"And what of him?"

"I am Michael Becket. I have come to support Alma in her journey." _How the FUCK did I know to say that?!_

"Indeed." She nodded. Suddenly her demeanor changed completely. "Ok, now that the formal bullshit is out of the way, Hi. I'm Ruki. I've been stuck out here waiting for someone to show up so we can get my little brother back to himself."

The change surprised the two of them. "Uhh…hi?" Alma offered.

"Don't mind what happened before. It's a…consider it a way for his subconscious to recognize you and what you intend to do. See, his mind is set up in a way that it reflects whoever's in it the exact way they wish to be. There's only one rule here, and that is that anything is possible. The rule is, Believe, and it can be done."

"Thanks…that's…good to know."

"Now…let's see. Hold still you two. I'm gonna set you up so Alma gets tested, and Michael gets read as a tool of hers."

"Huh? I'm not-

"Trust me, it'll be easier this way. His defenses are already on high alert, so chances are you're gonna have a bitch of a time getting through to him. If I were to let this place register both of you as separate entities, chances are you wouldn't make it past the first trial. We want him back to normal as much as you do."

"Alright." Becket conceded. "Do what you have to."

"Ok…" A bright green window appeared in front of her. An accompanying green keyboard appeared beneath it, and the First Guardian began typing.

"Let's see now…" Suddenly, the same symbol they saw outside this area, shone on the screen, the Gate and the ground beneath them. Rings of light surrounded them as what looked like glowing red eyes floated around them, looking them over.

"Hmm…Courage…not surprising, you'd need a solid pair to try to take him on here…" A red light appeared on the gate. "Intelligence in spades…" A blue light. "Hmm…it's barely there, but Purity is getting a bit stronger…is it-" A white light appeared, flickered for a few moments, and then solidified. "Alright it's enough then."

She continued typing. Alma had a question. "Umm…what are you doing?"

"Scanning you two to see what keys you need to get. See, the test is set up to recognize certain qualities in people, qualities he has. If you don't naturally have them, you have to display aspects of them to gain a key for this door. Get all seven keys and you can get in…"

Alma nodded, it made sense.

"Alright…Hope…wow…that's…pretty damn bright." A brilliant yellow light appeared. "That might be the strongest you have…Wait…no…that's Desire. Goddamn, I don't think I've EVER seen one this strong."

A shining black orb formed on the gate. Its presence sent ripples of darkness around it, almost dwarfing the others.

"Alright…that's it. You're missing Wisdom and Comprehension. Interesting, I've never seen someone with so many keys already. Even the three girls didn't match you two. They needed three. Damn…I don't think I've met anyone who had Comprehension right off the bat either."

"Is that…special?" Becket inquired, flexing his arms and legs to regain feeling in them after standing still for so long…before wondering why he was doing so.

"**Comprehension** is the most powerful and rarest of all seven **Ideya**. It is the ability to understand on levels beyond the norm. It's what makes him so damn powerful both in the mental realm, and the physical. It's because he understands how things interact, react and exist. From that, comes the ability to control how things work."

"I don't get it." Alma admitted. Ruki laughed. "I'm not surprised. It's a very lengthy and complex concept. But, I'm sure you'll pull through." She typed a few more commands and a glowing green gateway opened.

"That will take you to where your first of hopefully Two trials will be. Listen, I can offer only one last bit of advice. Keep this in mind: In this world, He is God. Good luck!"

The two nodded their thanks and hopped into the glowing green rift. As it closed behind them, Ruki's bubbly look changed to a solemn one.

"I hope they can do it. The body can't exist without the mind to sustain it for long…"

* * *

They found themselves in a forest. Trees taller than even the greatest skyscrapers of Auburn before its explosion, stretched as far as the eye could see. The sky was almost impossible to make out through the canopy of green. Small filters of light shone down however, adding to the already impressive location, a feel of wonder and majesty.

And then they saw the floating traffic lights.

"What the fuck?"

"Yeah, weird shit innit?"

The two whirled around to see a tall dark skinned man. Long black hair framed his face, while he wore a dark forest green robe.

"And you are…"

"Weapon. The Fifth Guardian, holder and protector of the power of Growth, and Wisdom. Reincarnated from the original Third Guardian, Chaos, when the master Zero decided that his existence went against what he wanted, and re-formatted him into me."

"Damn…kid doesn't mess around even in his own head…"

"Now that the formal crap is done…'sup bitches?"

Alma gave a small smile. "He mentioned someone like you…a vulgar, perverted man who had no shame in yelling out the most random things possible."

"Damn right. I'm bored off my ass though, and I don't really feel like fighting…so…let's play a game."

Alma and Becket blinked. This wasn't what they expected. Weapon tossed off the robe to reveal a dark green button up shirt with a bunch of draconic patterns on it. For pants, a simple matching pair of shorts, and he wore a pair of sandals.

"I was kinda kickin' it until my woman told me some noobs were gonna try to get the kid back. As much as I wanna just give you my key, rules are rules, and it's not worth getting my hopes up if you can't even prove worthy right? So I figure, I'm bored, and for once I **don't **wanna kick somebody's ass, so I'm gonna **duel **ya. …you…DO know how to duel right?"

Alma got a bit worried for a moment. "I…uhh…"

"**She doesn't…but I do.**"

From Alma emerged a shadow. From that shadow came her other mindset. A smaller form of Alma appeared, hair tied in a ponytail, wearing a black headband with the red symbol for Fire on it. She wore a sleeveless red button up top that reached down to below her waist, where she wore a skirt similar to her elder counterpart. However, on her wrist was a strange device.

"Hey…I think he said something about you. A kid that caught onto the game faster than anyone he'd ever met…ehh, fuck cares huh? Need time to set up your deck?"

"No…I've got a couple set already. Best two out of three?"

"Fuck yeah."

(BGM: BlazBlue - Reppu/Gale)

A set of cards materialized in the younger Alma's hands, and she slipped the deck into a slot on the device she wore. Weapon materialized his own device, dark green seemed to be his motif, and each 'space' had the symbol for Wind on it.

The devices seemed to activate, glowing random colors for a few moments before two screens appeared in front of Alma and Becket. The first screen had Alma's name on it, along with Weapon's. Beneath their names were the number **8000**. Above their names were a set of words. Above Alma's name was **Spellslinger. **And above Weapon's was **Kaze no Shi.**

"Alright, I'll go first."

Weapon drew a card, adding it to his hand. He slapped a card onto the weird disk on his arm.

"Luster Dragon, in attack mode bitch."

A large blue dragon appeared in front of him. He slid a card into one of the slots, the one just below his monster.

"And one facedown. Alright I'm done."

Alma nodded and drew a card of her own. "I activate Gold Sarcophagus!" She pulled her deck out of the slot, leafing through it before picking her card. She slid it into another slot in her disk and re-shuffled her deck before placing it back in its original slot.

"One facedown and…Eria!"

A blue haired girl materialized in front of Alma. Next to the girl was a lizard-like humanoid wearing light armor.

"Not done though, I send Sakuretsu Armor to the grave to summon The Tricky!"

A mechanical looking human with a red question mark for a face, a blue cape and a similar question mark on its chest appeared to the right of the girl and her monster.

"Then I play Mage Power, and equip it to Eria!"

Numbers went up. Eria's original 1850 attack and 1500 defense increased to 2850 and 2500 respectively. Weapon whistled.

"Daaaamn. Nice figures on that girl."

"Now, Attack Tricky!"

A giant red question mark appeared on the blue dragon and the dragon poofed in a burst of smoke. Numbers went down on Weapon's side.

**Weapon = 7900**

"Eria! Strike him head on!"

"Silly bitch yo water woman cannot harm me, don't you know who the fuck I am?" He pressed a button, and the image of his facedown card rose.

"Magic Cylinder bitch! I'mma hicha wicha own PIMP!"

The blast of water that was about to strike weapon flew into one oddly colored cup, and out another, striking Alma. She sputtered indignantly.

**Alma = 5150**

Still spitting out water she mumbled. "Pfft. Pblegh. My-blagh. My turn's done."

"Oh yeah Weapons gonna be spinnin his bitches…and be a borin mofo!"

He set a monster on its side, face down, as well as setting another card face down.

"Done bitch."

"Would you quit it?!"

"Fuck no."

Alma shook her head and drew.

"Tricky!"

"Nigga said: Denied."

Mirror Force was triggered. Alma gasped as both her monsters shattered like glass.

"FUCK!"

"AHAHAHAHA! That was funny."

She ended her turn. Weapon drew a card. He sent the facedown one to the grave.

"Oh yeah here it comes! Armed Dragon level five mothafucka!"

A giant red dragon covered in dark grey armor, which was covered in spikes, appeared. It held in its right hand a giant black club, also covered in spikes. Becket quipped to the older Alma. "Damn…that thing looks like it just got back from a rave…which ended in someone getting impaled. Repeatedly." She giggled.

"And let's play some doctor, Premature Burial!"

**Weapon = 7100**

Sacrificing 800 life points, he brought back the blue dragon from before.

"Alright Luster, blast the bitch!"

"Here, have some death!" Mirror Force activated on **her **side.

"OH YOU LITTLE BITCHCOCK!"

Alma laughed as he declared his turn over.

"She's pretty good isn't she?" "She's still losing though." "Bah, details."

Alma drew a card. Suddenly the card she placed in the unknown slot slid out. She smiled and added it to her hand. _Crush card…I'll wait on this one._

She slapped a card down. "Injection Fairy Lily!" "AWE HELL NAW!"

A small white winged woman dressed in a nurse's outfit holding an oversized syringe appeared.

"I think it's time for a dose of PAIN!" "That was pretty good." "She's got better ones."

The woman pulled back, and then flared with light as Alma declared her effect to activate. Alma lost 2000 life points… **Atk: 3400**

**Alma = 3150**

But the syringe grew larger and slammed right into weapon's chest.

"I HATE SHOTS!"

**Weapon = 3700**

"Damn she evened it up in one move!" "That's how this game goes. There was an anime about it but it was as illogical as Dragonball." "Hey, don't talk shit about DBZ woman. That was a **man's** show."

Alma ended her turn. Weapon drew a card and slapped one down.

"Slate Warrior bitch!"

A stone humanoid with its torso detached from the rest of its body appeared, clutching a spear.

"damn that's all I can do…"

Alma smiled and drew a card. She slipped one into a slot and just stared at Weapon's monster. _Come to me…_ The monster nodded and shuffled over to stand next to her nurse. **Brain Control**.

**Alma = 2350**

"Oh…sweet merciful crapshit…"

"Lily!"

**Alma = 350**

**Weapon = 300**

"Fuck."

_Kill._

A thrown spear and…

**Weapon = 0**

The monsters vanished as weapon dropped to his back.

"Nice…nice one kid."

His deck vanished, to be replaced with another one.

**Alma: Spellslinger**

**Weapon: EXEC PAJA**

…_why does that sound so…familiar?_

**HEAVEN OR HELL!**

**DUEL 2!**

**LET'S ROCK!**

"You won last time, so I'll go first!"

**Weapon = 8000**

**Alma = 8000**

"One facedown….aaand…"

A monster appeared. A humanoid with thousands and thousands of arms materialized on the field.

"Ma brotha Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands! Aint no ass safe from him!"

The arms stood rigid as the man floated in the air, glowing.

"I activate his effect, and draw the Ritual card, Shinato's Ark to my hand. I'm done here."

Alma drew a card, wracking her brain trying to remember what Shinato was. She placed a card on the field, summoning a hooded man holding a staff.

"Skilled Dark Magician! Attack!"

"Is neva ova till is ova! MAHVEL BAYBEE!"

The facedown card rose, revealing Magic Cylinder.

**Alma = 6100**

She cursed and ended her turn.

"Ow…right off the bad she's not doing too well." "I'm more worried about that Shinato thing…one thing I got from her is that Rituals usually summon either very powerful, or very tricky monsters. And Zero favored the powerful ones…"

Weapon drew a card.

"Here, I know you bitches love your mirrors an' shit."

Summoned to the field was a creature made of multiple mirrors.

Alma cursed again. "Reflect Bounder…"

"Not finiiiished! Shrink!"

Alma's hooded man reduced in size before their very eyes.

"Oh crap."

"Manju! Pimpslap dat ass!"

The multi-armed creature leapt at the now child sized mage and after a series of repeated backhands, the mage burst into fragments.

**Alma = 5650**

"Reflect Bounder! Blind the bitch!"

Catching what few rays of light were filtering down from the canopy openings, the mirror creature made a massive lens-flare.

"GAAH!"

**Alma = 3950**

But still he wasn't done. He slid in a card, and the rays of light solidified into hundreds of broadswords that slammed into the ground around Alma.

"Swords of Revealing Light!"

_Oh goddammit! Now I can't strike back!_

"THIS! IS! SPARTA!"

Alma glared at him drawing a card.

"No…this, is, **LEZBO!"**

Slamming it onto the disk she materialized two women, holding each other loosely. Weapon dropped to the ground laughing his ass off.

"YES! THAT IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! THAT IS THE FUNNY WHICH IS MADE BY THE TALKING!"

She declared her turn over. Weapon slowly got to his feet, still laughing. He placed one monster on the field face down, and switched Manju to defense.

He could not speak for he was still too busy chuckling, he motioned for her to go.

She replaced Gemini Elf with a different monster. The two women shared a brief hug before being enveloped in a wave of light, which when it faded, revealed an old man floating cross-legged, holding a very large staff.

"Awe man you got rid of the lesbians for an old fuck? I didn't know you were into that shit."

Alma sputtered. "You…I…SHUT UP!"

He laughed again, noting the end of her turn.

"Ahh…it was fun kid, but it's time to end this."

He flipped the facedown card.

"Penguin Soldier! At Attention!"

The fat flightless bird wearing armor saluted.

"Back to her Magician!"

It blew a whistle that it pulled out of nowhere, and the Magician turned away from the field, vanishing into faint particles. Alma blanched as she realized she'd just lost her only defense. She took the card off the field as weapon did the same with Manju.

"Manju, get yo ass back here!"

It returned.

"FUCK!"

Alma yelled.

Becket blinked. "Why's she so upset?"

The elder Alma lowered her head, trying to get a read on her other mind's knowledge.

"According…to what's cycling through her thoughts right now…Manju allows the summoner to pick either ritual or monster, freely. Weapon already picked the ritual, but since he sent it back to his hand and summoned it again, it's as if he were summoning it for the first time."

"So he picked the Monster…Shinato?"

"Yes…and…I think he won."

"I play Shinato's Ark!"

A massive wooden boat appeared over the field.

"I send White Night Dragon to the grave!"

The image of a giant blue dragon faded into the Ark, which then began radiating a brilliant light.

"Come Forth! Shinato, King of a Higher Plane!"

The Alma's and Becket stared as what could only be described as a picture perfect Seraphim floated down from the heavens.

"Reflect Bounder!"

Alma was blinded again.

**Alma = 2250**

"Shinato! End this game! **DIVINE JUDGMENT!"**

The six winged, white robed angel lifted a single arm. A glowing white glyph, symbolizing creation, appeared beneath Alma's feet. She screamed as beams of purifying holy light rained down from the sky like lasers, before the glyph itself exploded in a pillar of holy power.

**Alma = 0**

She dropped to the ground, groaning as the creatures vanished.

"Damn girl. Didn't expect this one to take you down that easily. We only just made this deck a week ago."

She coughed and slowly sat up.

(End song.)

"Well, one more-

**DING**

Weapon's head shot up. The world seemed to distort for a moment, as a massive glowing green sphere materialized above the group.

"Is…is that…"

"You sure man?"

The sphere seemed to pulse.

Weapon sighed. "Alright man…it's your call…"

He turned back to them.

"Looks like we're gonna have to get serious. He doesn't want me letting you through…"

His body began glowing with a dark green. Lines, symbols, markings, all manner of unusual creation appeared on his form. There was a flare of light…and when it cleared, he'd changed.

Where once was a man stood what looked like machine. A tall, floating humanoid being covered in almost organic looking armor. Green lines raced along its body, like beats of a heart. On the one clawed arm rest a wicked looking blade, seemingly held there by a device on the wrist which allowed it to flip forward, possibly spring-loaded. Its feet were nonexistent, the legs narrowing down into two pointed nubs. Unseen to them, there were slits on the very tips that would allow for devices to deploy, allowing for balance and movement on ground.

Where once was a face, there was now a helmed visor. And upon its back were two extensions that opened up like vents, however, the glowing green energy flowing from them gave them the appearance of wings.

(BGM: Persona 4 - A New World Fool)

The orb flared again, and the world changed.

Now the group was floating in the clouds, surrounded by all manner of fantasy.

"Whoa…that's…"

"**Impressive, isn't it? This is the will of my Master, my Creator. We shall battle in the Heavens, with the Gods as our witnesses. Do you have the strength to persevere against this final challenge?"**

With words spoken, the orb began releasing streams of green towards Weapon's new form. The streams solidified into cards, which arranged themselves into a deck, and shuffled, before sliding into his device.

The words on the floating screen blurred to become:

**Absolute Zero**

* * *

"Alright, can someone finally explain what's going on?"

The girls had taken a seat in the conference room, alongside Betters and the others. The Dive had taken priority over giving answers, and now that their role was done…for now, Betters wanted his questions out there.

"Yeah, why'd he flip out and attack Alma like that?" Jin asked.

Lynn, the blonde haired girl, answered. "She attacked him first, months ago. Before he began training her, he found her body dropping from the sky, and brought it home to recover. She woke up and jumped him basically. He fended her off but…the level of power she must have been outputting must have triggered his survival instincts, and his subconscious mind logged her as a threat."

Jin was scribbling away when Stokes put the pieces together. "So _that's _why he told her to hide herself in Becket's mind."

The three nodded, and Sylph, the curly haired glasses-wearing girl elaborated. "He consciously knew she wasn't a threat, but his subconscious doesn't remember threats as people, only actions, intentions, and power. When he released himself, to give us a shot at tracking down her son, that was him letting the mentality of his subconscious take over. When we sensed that he was prepping a **Singularity **I had Alma throw up a psychic field as strong as she could, to protect from the side effects."

"**Singularity?**" Betters asked.

"It was an idea from a game from ten years ago. It's a localized gravitational field created, sustained, and detonated in the semblance of a Black Hole. Zero releases a wide range field of weak gravity, and then over time pulls it in. When he pulls it in, it gets stronger and stronger by synching with the personal gravitational fields of everything around him. After a certain point, he super charges it, then condenses it, making it highly volatile."

Lynn jumped in as Sylph took a drink. "From there, he'll usually lob it at something, kinda like a baseball, and then detonate it. The detonation varies to be honest, sometimes it's a massive sphere right off the bat, other times it sucks things in before detonating. Either way, the pressure of the field reduces anything it touches to atoms in seconds."

While they were talking, and Jin was writing, Stokes noticed that Kidd was just staring off into space, mouth moving occasionally.

"What's with her?"

The other two blinked, and looked at the youngest. Sylph reached over and snapped her fingers in front of the younger girl's face. The girl's head snapped to the side, eyes flickering red, startling Sylph, before she lightly shook her head and blinked.

"What?"

"The hell were you doing?"

"Watching."

"…watching…" Lynn made a motion to continue.

"Alma."

"What? How?!"

She tapped the side of her head. "Zee's got himself on lockdown, but Alma doesn't. I hitched a ride in the little one's consciousness when they went in. I can't do anything, or else he might notice, but he doesn't sense me right now, so I can watch."

Lynn gaped. "But…how did you-

Sylph smiled. "Well, looks like you're still proving us wrong. You're making us look bad you know."

Kidd stuck her tongue out. "Pfft, not my fault you can't think outside the box." A loud slapping sound rang through the room. Lynn had just facepalmed.

"Oh **god **you're sounding like him."

Sylph smirked. "Yeah…that is something he'd say. So…what's going on in there?"

"Ruki set them up as a pair, and the little one's been duelin' Weapon for the past while. Problem is, I think Zee's getting scared, or at least, the inner him is. Alma won the first round, but Weapon Shinato'd out the second. He was about to go for a third, but Zee seems to have stepped in. Weapon's gone Second Stage, and is usin Zee's deck."

"Fuck…"

"Yeah…she's losing too. She's got Ordeal of a Traveler down…but only one card in her hand, so.."

"Shit….shit…that's not good."

Kidd shook her head. "I don't…think it'll be that bad actually."

Lynn just stared. "Explain."

"You know him. He's tricky. I didn't hear any conditions for passing being she had to _win_…"

"Yeah…I can see him doing that…do you…_have _to be in a trance to see it?"

"Kinda. I kinda gotta keep chanting to myself or else I can't link. His defenses are _really _interfering."

"Alright…just keep us posted…"

The purple haired girl nodded and sighed, relaxing herself before her eyes snapped open, turning red again.

Stokes quipped. "That's…pretty freaky."

"You've dealt with an angry dead chick and you think _that's _freaky?"

"Well yeah. It's not like I could **see **Alma when she was pissed."

"True…"

* * *

"Enjoying the show?"

The man whirled around. Before him stood a teenage girl with dyed purple hair.

"Who-

"Dun matter. You're here for the same reason I am."

"To keep an eye on her."

"Well…I'm keeping an eye on my big bro, but pretty much yeah. Not surprised you're watching too. Zee's protection around her dropped the second he unleashed."

"She…cares for him. A lot."

"It's easy to. He only treats you like a pillock when you deserve it."

"I can see. She's losing."

"Badly."

"We can't do anything can we?"

"Not unless we want him to shut down even further."

"That can happen?"

"Right now, he's running on backup…alive, but not conscious. We…don't want him to know we're here. Ever. If he even senses us remotely, he might just crush Alma right then and there, and then find us and do the same."

"She's stronger-

"Not here. She's only as strong as she thinks she is. And even so, we're in _his _mind. He doesn't have us locked in, but if he did, he could simply strip our power and erase us in an instant. His mental offenses are only strong from within."

"I see."

* * *

She drew her card…and cried.

The clawed object latched to her monster exploded, reducing her life points to 0.

"Oh…fuck."

She dropped to her knees. "I…"

(End song)

"Damn…I didn't think it'd be that fast…"

She shook her head.

"You got dealt some shitty hands there."

"I failed…"

"Failed? Says who?"

She looked up, teary eyed, confused. "Kid, where did I say you had to _win?_"

Her eyes widened. "That's right…nobody said anything about victory or loss…does that mean-

She was cut off by the sphere flaring, almost angrily.

"Heh, sorry Boss, she's earned it."

The world vibrated as a loud roar echoed through the forest. The roar was filled with rage and hatred, bringing all who heard it to their knees. As the roar echoed through the forest, the green orb shrunk, slowly flying towards Alma, before it slammed into her, wisps of green swirling around her body for a few seconds.

"Alright. There's not much time. Your final test is coming. Listen, there's one thing you gotta know. Everything happens for a reason."

With those words, he vanished in a whirlwind of green energy, before the roar ripped through the land again. The world shattered like glass, as a massive beast tore through the forest. The area shifted to what looked like the vast ocean of space, as all they saw was a massive spiked tail flying past.

They dropped back, the ground beneath them vanishing. Though space in essence held no gravity, their own weight dragged them downward towards a raging sphere of flame.

(BGM: Sonic and Knuckles - Doomsday Zone)

"GET BACK HERE!"

The little Alma yelled, before a ring of shimmering rainbow light surrounded her. Her body became alight with golden energy, and she took off like a rocket, chasing the unknown creature.

Surrounded in a telekinetic bubble, Becket stared. "Did she…did she just go Super Sonic?"

"Come on! We have to follow her!"

"DID SHE OR DID SHE NOT JUST GATHER THE SEVEN CHAOS EMERALDS AND GO SUPER SONIC?!"

"SHUT UP AND FLY DAMMIT!"

The two took off. Massive boulders and other assorted objects would appear in their path. They would duck, bob, weave and sometimes even blast their way through the obstacles.

"BEAM!"

The two split apart at Becket's cry. He'd recognized the shimmer of light heading their way. The searing flash cut past them, narrowly missing them. They still felt the heat from it though.

"SECOND ROUND!"

More flashes of white light raced towards them. They spiraled, dipped and even completely stopped sometimes, to evade the deadly flares.

"Ok, last I checked it was **missiles, **not lasers in the Doomsday Zone."

"You know what this is?!"

"Hell yeah, any video gamer worth his balls knows this! This is the final stage of Sonic and Knuckles…but…it's different. Damn though, has the music and everything…"

Bounding off a small asteroid that nearly crashed into her, Alma continued her inquiry.

"What can we expect?!"

"This is pretty much it! Though I wonder why there's lasers…"

Suddenly a flare of light behind them caused them to turn around. Their eyes widened as they saw the massive sphere of flame that they'd narrowly evaded being dropped into was moving towards them.

"THIS WASN'T IN THE GAME!"

"MOVE IT!"

The two poured on the speed, stars around them becoming streaks of light as they made as tight maneuvers as possible to evade the asteroids in their path, to minimize speed loss. Within a few minutes, the sphere had nearly caught up to them…but before them was a hole.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"

"OUR TICKET OUT OF HERE! COME ON!"

Pushing their minds to the limit, they shot straight through the rip in reality, the portal closing behind them, just as the sphere of flame passed.

* * *

(BGM: Ar Tonelico 2 - EXEC SUBLIMATION ee wassa sos yehar)

Unfortunately for them, they'd leapt from the fire, into the frying pan. They'd landed on a glowing symbol in the middle of nothingness. Before them was the little Alma, looking around cautiously.

"Uhh…why don't I like the sound of this?"

"Someone's singing. A song of hatred, of anger…a song of destruction."

_**KOWARERO KOWARE KOWARE KOWARETEYUKE**_

_**KOWARERO KOWARE KOWARE KOWARETEYUKE**_

_**KOWARERO KOWARE KOWARE KOWARETEYUKE**_

_**KOWARERO KOWARE KOWARE KOWARETEYUKE**_

With a mighty roar that sounded like a million gongs were ringing at once, a massive beast appeared as whoever was singing, chanted.

While looking quite obviously like a dragon, its torso almost looked like that of a bodybuilder, as its two very muscled arms ended in claws of five. Its lower half was missing, replaced by a single impossibly long spiked tail. Upon its chest was the recurring symbol within Zero's mind. Wings, blood red and tattered as if they were made of cloth that had been torn apart by raging knives.

"Well…someone wants us dead."

The older Alma looked at her younger self, just temporarily taking her eyes off of the feral beast before them.

"Really? How could you tell?"

Either she didn't notice the sarcasm, or she ignored it. "Because the first words of the song happen to translate to someone chanting 'die' repeatedly."

Seconds after that statement, the little Alma threw her hand to the side, knocking her elder counterpart away. She herself took to the air as the tip of the massively long tail erupted from the ground beneath them. As that happened, the world changed. A massive field filled with stone pillars, both broken and standing, was their arena.

Little Alma reached out and grabbed a fallen pillar, hurling it at the dragon. The massive creature batted it to the side, only to roar in irritation as the cover fire from Becket's machine gun plinked away against its tough scales. Becket rolled forward, the dragon's large claws digging into the dirt around him. Little Alma appeared next to him, eyes shining, before the two jumped out of the gap between its fingers, as it closed around where they were, trying to crush them.

Taking a page out of her other mind's book, Alma grabbed a series of pillars, and jumped on one before levitating them all as if they were a squadron of fighter planes. She would toss one at the dragon, before jumping to another and tossing the one she was just standing on, constantly moving and constantly pelting the beast with flying concrete.

The problem was, it was fast. Faster than any of them would have expected. While not outright breaking the laws of physics like an Oozaru would in DBZ, as Becket thought to himself, the dragon seemed to barely lift an appendage out of the way, or tilt to the side to evade an attack. These slight movements, while random looking, seemed like they had a purpose, to the hardened military veteran.

And then there was the little Alma.

The dragon's tail, which covered a massive range of distance, both length and width, would just barely miss. She would make small motions, narrowly evading its claws and fireballs with only a scant few inches. She wasn't teleporting, for some reason; the flickering around her being pure movement, but she was doing _something_.

"_Anything is possible."_

He closed his eyes and wished for a sniper rifle. A clattering behind him forced his eyes open, and he noted one of his favorite models had just 'spawned'. _Just like in a first person shooter…_

He grabbed it…when the music went calm.

* * *

"How are you doing that?!"

"It's called Marble Phantasm. He taught us about it when we were linking. It's the act of manipulating Probability. Every action we take has a possibility of succeeding or failing, every desire we have, has a chance of being attained, or lost to us. Marble Phantasm takes that possibility, and jacks the percentage to one-hundred. He's using it too. That's why nothing we throw at him is working. He's manipulating probability to either evade, or not get struck anywhere that would deal much damage."

Felt something shift, as the music calmed. She quickly finished her explanation, dragging Alma over to where Becket was standing. The dragon had ceased its attacks, floating there as if in a trance.

"Listen, he and I are both using Marble Phantasm. Right now our wills are matched, so our desires are clashing, canceling each other's manipulations out. He wants his attack to hit, I want it to miss, I want to hit, he wants to dodge. Its being reduced to our skill at defending. That puts us at an advantage."

What they didn't know…was that on the other side, outside of events, Kidd was translating what was being said.

_**cEzLYI quga, cEzLYI shefra!**_

"_I become the world's end, I become the world's creation!"_

A whirlwind of energy surrounded the dragon as it floated upwards, slowly opening its dripping maw.

"…BECKET!"

He looked up from his gun, after fiddling with it a bit.

"Oh…crap."

_**Nanjira wa wazawainarukana wazawainarukana wazawainarukana**_

"_Ye art all evil, evil, evil."_

A glowing light appeared in the dragon's mouth. Energy began spiralling inward.

"AIM AT THAT LIGHT! WHEN I TELL YOU, FIRE!"

_**Ooinaru sabaki ni utareyo sabaki ni utareyo sabaki ni utareyo**_

"_Accept judgment, judgment, great judgment."__**  
**_

The dragon floated higher, the light growing to near blinding proportions. Becket steeled his sight against the glare, and drew the light into his sights.

_**Sashinobeyo chiniku no aganai chiniku no aganai chiniku no aganai  
**_

"_Extend ye hands, compensate ye sins with blood and flesh, with blood and flesh, with blood and flesh."_

The light dimmed, forming into a near perfect sphere. Around its snout formed the recurring glyph of Chaos.

_**Orokanaru kedamono no mureyo sououshiki gouhou ni mamirete**_

"_Stupid beasts, ye art all shrouded in inevitable karma."_

The dragon pulled its head back as the glyph dissipated.

"NOW!"

Becket pulled the trigger.

_**Kowarero**_

"_Die!"_

And there was a blinding flash, followed by a loud exploding noise.

* * *

The light cleared, and a single form stood before them. A wave of its hand and the cloud of dust swirled away.

Clad in a simple black fighter's gi, much like one would don in a martial arts dojo, he stood before them, smirk on his face.

"Impressive. I didn't think something that small would be able to do so much…congratulations on combining your efforts. However…"

He flicked out a small blade.

"You're playing **my **game now."

(BGM: Persona 4 - A New World Fool)

The world flared white for a moment, as a loud crashing noise rang.

When the light and sound cleared, they found themselves in a ruined city. Buildings were broken and collapsed, cars were upturned, trees were toppled and loose power lines were everywhere. The sky was fire, and ash rained down.

In a blur of motion he appeared next to the child Alma.

"You know too much."

He tapped her on the forehead before she could react to his words, and she vanished in a wave of light. He flickered out of the way, as a car slammed into where he was. Alma had reacted, feeling her inner self being forcibly re-joined with her. A distortion appeared before her, and she leaned back, just narrowly evading Zero's blade. It sliced through the front of her shirt though, cutting off a few buttons.

He blurred to the side as a hail of gunfire rained down upon his position. His form blurred continuously, giving glimpses of him in different positions as he contorted his body to evade each bullet, making his way to Becket, delivering a face crunching kick to the man's nose.

He swung his hand to the side, immediately burning a flying bench to a crisp, before reaching out and hurling a tall lamp post at Alma, who stepped to the side before launching a car door at him.

He brought his hands down, overriding her command and sending the door dropping to the ground, but that was a distraction for Becket, who grabbed him by the arm pulled him close and slammed his forehead into Zero's nose. The white haired young man stumbled back, not so much injured as he was surprised by the tactic. But his surprise was taken from him as he was slammed in the chest by a tree trunk that had been psychically swung at him like a bat.

Becket readied two sub-machine guns and opened fire into the hole in the nearby building that was created by Zero's impact. Alma called out to him, and he rolled to the side, evading a massive wall of black that rippled forward from Zero's position. His roll was cut short however, as Zero's foot caught him in the side of the head, launching him to the air. Becket was in luck however, for Zero's follow-up was then wasted on blocking a slab of concrete that was hurled at him by Alma. A swing of his arm and a crescent shaped wave of light erupted from his blade, cutting the stone in twain.

Becket landed as Zero focused his sights on Alma. He sat up, hand clenching around a random rocket launcher that had just suddenly 'spawned.' He stayed silent, hiding his intentions and readying his aim as Zero had flickered over to Alma and knocked the wind out of her with a solid punch to the stomach, which was followed by a reverse spin kick which connected to her temple, horribly disorienting her as well as knocking her away.

Becket let loose the rocket, aiming right where Alma was.

Zero pulled back his blade, and prepared to run her through when he was blown away by the flying missile, only noticing it at the last second, and body too committed to the move to change his attack.

Becket ran over to Alma, helping her up as she rubbed the side of her head. The dust cleared and Zero let out a pulse of energy that changed the world around them.

Now they were in a dusty clearing, much like the sands of Egypt. Pillars of stone, broken and whole, surrounded them.

"It ends here." Beneath his feet, one half of Chaos awoke. The symbol of Destruction, three triangles facing inwards at the tips of a fourth upside down triangle, in the center of the array. Surrounding the center triangle however, was a single ring. Six symbols, each one representing a specific element, appeared around him, spiralling for a moment, before turning into orbs of light that shot to the sky.

Alma shook her head, snarling. "LIKE HELL!"

Something awoke.

Beneath her formed the second half of Chaos. The sign of Creation, formed of a similar upside down triangle surrounded by three others, only these triangles faced outwards, with their straight 'bottom' edges on the 'sides' of the center. The same six symbols surrounded her as well, before shooting to the heavens.

Zero's eyes widened for a moment, as a massive wall of light erupted between the two.

(BGM: Dissidia Final Fantasy - Chaos - last battle 1)

A strange whirring noise cut through the air. The light cleared, but Zero wasn't before them.

The whirring noise grew louder, and Alma whirled around. "BECKET!"

He too turned, only to see a flash of light. Alma gasped as a series of arrow tipped streams of pure energy slammed into Becket's chest, before he burst into pieces.

* * *

Becket shot up suddenly, gasping in pain.

"Whoa holy shit! Calm down Becket!"

Immediately the three girls were at his side. Lynn was the first to hold out a hand, sending her own psychic will into his mind, to assess any damage. While she focused, Sylph asked the question on everyone's minds.

"What happened?"

"I…I don't know. He was going to do something…but Alma did something similar. Then I turn around and there's a flash, and next thing I know I'm awake."

"Could you make out any details?"

"A ring. A ring of red. And a lot of other colours hitting me."

The girls shared a look.

"He must be getting desperate…"

"Why? What did he do?"

"Data Drain. It's…another skill he lifted off of an anime series. It works by disrupting the target's internal data clusters, forcibly re-writing them into another form, or completely scattering them entirely."

Kidd piped up. "He's been tryin' ta make a real world version of it, something about molecular stability or somethin'."

"Basically it attacks you at your basest level, your very molecular structure, and then destabilises it to the point where your body can't hold itself together."

Suddenly Kidd went rigid. Her eyes turned red again, signifying a very tight hold on the connection between the two.

* * *

Rainbow beams slammed into the ground next to her. She'd just narrowly evaded a pulse from the strange weapon that appeared on his wrists. It looked like someone slapped a bunch of crystals together over a silver wrist bracer.

After seeing what it did to Becket, she wanted nothing to do with getting hit by that. Her inner self agreed.

"**This thing is too powerful. That's the thing he used against the construct of our Father that was in our mind before we woke! With a single strike, he erased a huge chunk of our rage, we do **_**not **_**want to get hit by that!"**

_I can't keep this up forever!_

"**It's got limited homing capabilities, but if you know how, it's really simple to dodge."**

_They're freakin following me __**everywhere!**__ How is that __**limited**__?!_

"**It's because your movements are too obvious! Calm down! The trick to evading that is Marble Phantasm!"**

_I don't know __**how **__to do that!_

"**Then fake it! Make small movements at the last second! Those things fire at the same moment, but you can evade them based on which one starts locking onto you first! Just stay calm, and you can make it-…oh fuck."**

Zero had enough. He crossed his arms over his head, then brought them both down to his sides, sending hundreds of those streams at Alma.

_Just stay calm, huh?_

She closed her eyes as the streams all arced for her. Opening them, she began walking forward, slowly.

Front. She stepped to the side slightly, it whizzed past her right arm. Left. She rose her left arm just a tad, as the stream passed by. Below. She bent her knee just a little bit more than usual, stepping over a side flying stream.

Hundreds of streams seemed to just pass by her, as her slight movements tricked their homing capabilities. If an outsider were to see, it would look as if she'd been shot at by a bunch of rainbow streamers with grappling hooks on them.

Watching his attack fail, he grew fearful. This woman was proving far too dangerous to let live. He nodded his head as the strange crystal bracelets vanished, coming to terms with what he had to do.

She was a threat, and it looked like whatever she was up to, was about to succeed.

He could not allow that. Even if it meant…

He closed his eyes. The memory played through his mind…and was reflected by the world…

* * *

"SCHALA!"

A forest clearing. A girl with violet hair lay on the ground, slowly dying. Her body was covered in bullet wounds from the humans stuck on the ground around the edges of the forest.

"Schala, hang on!"

A slightly younger Zero, head of black hair, picked the groaning girl up gently. She opened her eyes, and the emerald green orbs stared into his. She smiled slightly, blood dripping down her chin.

"Oh Zero…"

"Hang on, we can get you to a hospital!"

She shook her head, slowly raising a hand to his cheek, caressing it gently.

"No…this is…this is my destiny."

"I don't believe that."

"It is. Zero…I never told you…about the vision I had."

"…what did you see?"

"Death…destruction…she's angry…she grew so powerful…and none could match her. It was too late for our interference. But…I met him…I met you…he gave it all up…to give me this message…to show me that future. You gave everything of yourself…to change the world, just once."

"I…I don't have that kind of power Schal."

"You do…it's just…very difficult to wield. I…was meant to give you the knowledge…to open the connection between past and future…to give you the **time **you didn't have. You are strong…Zero. But the level of strength…and control…you need…is beyond you. It would…take too long…for it to happen naturally."

"…you…can do something like that?"

"only…at the cost of my life. The world doesn't like…being manipulated…like that. That's why…"

"…I hate…I hate it…"

"It's…my choice Zero."

"I know…that's why I hate it."

She smiled again. "Take my gift Zero. The gift that was meant for you…take this knowledge…and save her…save her from herself…please…it's my last request."

He took her hand gently in his. "…I promise."

Her body seemed to release a massive wave of air as she used her very life to bridge a connection between past and future. Knowledge, memories that were his and yet not, power, flooded into his mind through her body.

And with her last breath, he knew it all.

But he was still angry. Rage filled his heart that not only was this destiny thrust upon him, but it came at the cost of a girl he considered to be his dear sister. Hatred coloured his view as he rose his head and screamed his ire to the heavens.

He pulled. And pulled. And pulled.

And finally, it came.

He reached to the sky, the world trembling under the waves of his hatred, his power over Gravity reaching out and grasping everything possible. And above his hand, formed a sphere. A sphere of condensed gravity, much like a black hole…only so much more fearsome. He clenched a fist around the sphere, and it radiated outward like a shining black light. A massive wall of pressure ripped through the forest as the very air, within the radius of five miles, was turned nearly pitch black.

A dome of gravitational force had surrounded the forest, so powerful, everything within it was almost immediately ripped to atoms, save for the originator of the wave. The dome slowly collapsed inward, as the stress of everything, life, losing his dear sister, and sustaining such a powerful force, literally bled the color out of his hair. The sphere condensed again, finally shrinking to a solid black orb, radiating force around his fist, before a massive explosion ripped through the area.

Everything within that radius was eradicated.

* * *

With a mighty yell, he rose a hand to the heavens, a massive wave of force ripping from his body.

* * *

Kidd's eyes snapped back to normal.

"EVERYONE OUT! NOW!"

Becket climbed to his feet, jumping out of the bed he was in, just as the walls and floor began shuddering.

Before the girl's eyes, the symbol of Chaos seemed to briefly appear around Zero's body, before a wall of crushing power ripped through the room, and through the facility. Above his chest formed a shimmering black orb, radiating inverted light into the room as the wave encompassed the entire area.

Sylph paled horribly, mouth agape. "This is…"

"**Division by Zero…"**

* * *

_Run_.

That's all she could do. His attacks were relentless. Her clothes were in tatters, hanging by threads in some points. A 'cape' of six swords had formed behind him, and with their appearance, he took full control over the very elements of the world.

Swords of light would cut through the air, balls of flame would incinerate everything in their path, torrents of water would drench the earth before her, slowing her with its muddy grip…it was all she could do to survive, to evade, to hang on.

There was nothing she could attack with. Psychic attacks were brushed off, for he was in control of everything. Even what little control over her Pyrokinetics she had was snuffed out easily.

So she ran. She ran until she could run no further.

A massive wall of stone shot from the ground, in her path. She tried to turn around, but to no avail, beneath her feet glowed a holy sign. Streams of light began gathering within it, before a massive pillar of light erupted from her position.

Her screams echoed through his mind.

* * *

_Mother…_

He slept…floating in a tank similar to Alma's. He heard her screams…felt her pain…

But he couldn't find her. But somewhere within…he knew…

She would come for him soon.

* * *

"Still you stand?"

"I…I can't…I can't give up."

"Foolish girl…"

"Why…why Zero? Why do you fight so hard against me?!" _It makes no sense! If he wanted me dead or gone he could easily erase me from this world!_

"You are a threat."

"I don't _want-_

"It doesn't matter what you **want.** Your _**existence **_is a threat to mine. Your power is a threat to my life. Regardless of what you do with it, you will always be a being of power that may be able to erase me."

"I…think I get it. But…no…I don't. I don't understand." _…anything is possible. He is God here…but…does that mean…some part of him…wants me to succeed?_

"That is correct. You _don't._"

"But…I want to! I want to understand, I want to **know **you! We've spent five months together and I don't know a damn thing about you other than what you've shown me! I want to know more! I want to stay up late and listen to your life!"

"…what?"

"Don't you see Zero? I don't care about power, or money or anything! I don't care if my _power _is a threat to you, I **control** it! You've taught me how!"

"There's always a chance that-

"Yes, I know, I get that. But…I want to take that risk. I want to know the you that they know, that **Nicole **knows. I could sense…she knows you better than they others, maybe because she thinks like you, maybe it's because she's younger, and can afford to think in ways adults can't, I don't know. But…I want to know you like she does, no I want to know you **better **than she does!"

"Why."

"…because…after all this time…I've finally realized…I love you."

"and of the other?"

"Becket? He was…well…it's true…at one point he was the object of what I **thought **were my affections but…I couldn't think straight then. I think of him now…he's just another face in the crowd. Though a very detailed face, because of his power…but just another person."

"Hmph…even with your declaration, you will not succeed."

"_Comprehension…is the most powerful and rarest of all seven Ideya."_

"That's right…because I don't get it. But I want to…and that **has **to mean something! I want to know you…because I want to know why I've fallen for you."

Suddenly, the smaller form of Alma appeared between the two. She stared straight ahead, not looking at either one. The world was still slowly being encroached by the darkness…but she cared not.

She spoke. And the words she spoke caused a reaction. One that would lead to the end of this confrontation.

(BGM: Ar Tonelico 2 - EXEC SPHILIA)

**Kiafa hynne mea? Pagle tes yor. **_Can you hear my voice? The voice that is calling to you._

For a few moments, nothing happened, save for the stiffening of Zero's body.

Then, another voice rang through the air, similar to Alma's but different as well.

_Fou paks ga kiafa hynne yor._** Yes I could hear your voice.**

To which Alma responded.

**Kiafa sarla pagle tes yor. **_Can you hear my song?_

And the music started.

Immediately Zero got tense, staring in shock at the little girl singing along with something else within him. The other voice responded, in tune with the song.

_Wee paks ga faf yora accrroad mea?_** What would you give me?**

Alma responded.

**Was yea ra pauwel en wael yor. **_I shall give you much more strength and pleasure._

The voice sung.

_Wee paks ga chs mea?_** To you, what is the meaning of mine?**

And Alma sung back.

**Echrra en chs ar dor.** _Unification, coexistence, harmony of the world._

The voice responded.

_Was paks ga chs na mea._** It's a…A change for me not to be me.**

And it continued.

_En paul yor yora harton mea._** Therefore, I test what you are for me.**

The two voices sang to each other, like verses in a song. Zero recognized what it was, somehow, Alma had found the meaning behind the song, and was using it to connect deeper within himself.

This he could not allow.

His body flared with energy, and he rocketed towards the slightly glowing little girl…only to find himself knocked away by the elder Alma…who had somehow grown glowing violet wings.

_Impossible…but…it is in front of me. How?! How is it she is able to command __**my **__power in this world?!_

* * *

**Yorr faf so? **_Are you feeling afraid?_

_Was ki ga faf so. _**Yes I'm feeling afraid.**

**Yorr hierle? **_Are you feeling sad?_

_Was ki ga hierle. _**Yes I'm feeling sad.**

**Mea paul yor. **_I understand you._

_Was ki ga paul yor. _**Yes, I understand you.**

_**Yorr nille mea. You and me are much alike.**_

**Yorr desfel? **_Are you feeling hatred?_

_Was ki ga desfel. _**Yes I'm feeling hatred.**

**Yorr ween shell? **_Are you being chained in a shell?_

_Was ki ga ween shell. _**Yes, I'm being chained in a shell.**

**Mea paul yor. **_I understand you._

_Was ki ga paul yor. _**Yes, I understand you.**

_**Mea nille yor. You and me are much alike.**_

* * *

A massive wall of fire erupted from Zero's hand, only to be doused by a wave of water, which then turned to vapor, which was crystallized by Alma and hurled as lances of ice at Zero, who smashed through them all with a wave of solidified air.

_This is incredible! Ever since the little me started singing, it's like I knew everything he was going to do! It's still a bit scary how this song…we didn't even make it…someone else did, and yet it fits our situation perfectly…_

Rays of light flew from Zero's fingertips, only to be swallowed by a wall of shadows summoned by Alma. The shadows dissipated and she leaned to the side, avoiding a crescent shaped wave of energy launched by Zero's blade. She ducked under a swing and retaliated with a sharp kick, followed by swiping her hand to the side, materializing a spear of light, which she launched at him. He knocked it aside, loosing a wave of electricity from his fingertips. She threw her arm down, and a pole of metal appeared, attracting the bolts. She launched it at him, so now he had an electrified stick flying at his face, only for his "cape" of blades to slice it to ribbons.

* * *

**Whai yorr re hieghte so? **_What is the reason of your wounds?_

**Sash fwillra, ween papana **_those soft feathers, scattered, stricken by cold rain_

**Yorr rete yasra fhyu **_have you forgotten the gentle wind?_

**En yorr re deggeez art ciel **_being betrayed by the world_

**Na fowrlle heighte **_bearing a permanent scar_

**Yorr rete bautifal sarla. **_You have forgotten the beautiful song._

**Kiafa hynn mea sarla na layy **_Listen to this song, the song of truth._

**Ar knawa yor **_I just understand you._

**Vinan yor, noglle yor **_Whether you are beautiful, or you are ugly_

**Presia messe noce yor tes mea. **_Show me your true self._

* * *

The song continued, Alma noting how scarily similar to herself, the lyrics were. Alma soon realized, she cannot defeat Zero. But defeat isn't what she's aiming for.

As the song continued, a shape began forming in front of the little Alma, something that as the form grew solid, Zero noted, and seemed to grow frantic about.

* * *

"SHH!"

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR-

"SHUT UP!"

A spark of flame accompanied the statement, causing Lynn to back off in surprise.

"You can't hear it. You can't hear _her._ _**THEM**_. They're singing. _SHE _is singing. And it's working. He's opening up to her, even though his defenses don't want to."

"Well, that's all well and good but WE'RE STILL GONNA FUCKING DIE!"

Kidd looked to the side, uncertain.

"We…you were there for it. You saw its effects…but you only saw part of it."

Everyone stopped what they were doing.

"You…can't be serious."

"You haven't seen what I saw. He replayed it all…to her. Only…"

"What didn't we see?"

"Division by Zero…its purpose is not destruction. It's a massively draining, very powerful gravitational field of such magnitude the very fabric of **reality **warps."

Betters stared at the purple haired girl.

"What?"

"Its creation was made ten years from now. In an alternate future that now no longer exists. He made it because he realized that Alma could have been stopped. He used it then, to transmit a message to Schala. Schala realized that meddling with time like that would kill her anyway, so she told Zero when she was dying, giving him the knowledge to perform it. He did…we saw the destruction side, because it wasn't under his control fully, and because he wanted to erase _them_. But what we **didn't **see, is that his future self sent all of his built power, all of his attained knowledge of how to wield his power, to **our **Zero."

"That…explains why he was suddenly so much stronger than before…"

"Schala said Zero needed that power and knowledge, because by the time he'd get it naturally, it would be too late, and Alma would have become nearly a God."

"So…Division by Zero…"

"Was made to change the world, one time. Because of the costs, its extremely dangerous to use. The way I see it…if Alma is successful…"

"He'll do something, other than destroy everything in range."

* * *

**BOOM**

The two crashed together, a massive shockwave erupting from between them. Zero had taken full control of his "tower" accessing and unlocking his limiters. Twin bands of light surrounded his body in an X shape, the light streaming like a pure white bar code.

And yet Alma still kept up with him.

The two clashed multiple times, fire meeting ice, water meeting stone. Pillars were shattered then hurled at a target, only to be swept aside by a wall of air, which was then thrust out to the other, blocked by a shield of light, which launched rays of darkness.

They commanded the very fundamentals of the universe, things that had only been touched in works of fantasy, things that people had dreamed of being capable of, were occurring at this very moment.

The form had solidified. A naked, pale black haired little girl. Her eyes were…strange. Almond shaped like of the Asians, yet the colors…it was as if a veritable rainbow had materialized for her irises. She stood before the child Alma who glowed, surrounded by a holy aura of radiant silver. The new arrival looked scared, uncertain, but as the notes of the song played, she seemed to grow more confident.

And that scared him.

The two clashed again, hands locking into place, Zero's blades fanned out behind him, mimicking Alma's radiant violet wings. She was channeling _his _power in this world, wielding it to her own. Zero's left knee flew up, catching Alma by surprise. He used the moment of shock to kick her away, breaking the deadlock. Immediately he rocketed towards the two, who were both now beginning to be surrounded by the silver light.

"**MIKOTO GET AWAY FROM HER!"**

The girl paid him no heed.

Alma was right on his trail, swinging out her wrist. One of the remaining pillars flew into Zero's path. His blades sliced through it, but in the second he slowed, Alma caught up to him, teleporting ahead of him and slamming into him from the side, knocking him horribly off course.

* * *

**Whai firle hierle so?**_What is the reason of your sadness?_**  
**

**Ween shellan, re kyll fwal **_Inside the cage, your wings being cut by the chains_

**elle nnoi na haf yasra wharn **_without the tender embrace of your parents_

**En mea re deggeez art ciel **_being betrayed by the world_

**na siss cupla **_committing an everlasting sin_

**ides loss bautifal sarla **_the beautiful song is already dead._

* * *

It was that very moment. Zero broke free of Alma's grip, and flew. Faster than fast. But he stopped, just a few feet away…as the girl opened her mouth, and sang.

* * *

_**Kiafa hynne mea, sarla na lay**_ Listen to this song, the song of truth

_**Ar knawa mea**_ I just understand you.

_**faf mea, guwo mea**_ Whether I am afraid, or I am angry

_**zadius en guatrz omnis, mea**_ even if you detest my true self

_**Sonwe hynne yor**_ I could hear your song

_**cest yor, vianchiel ween ganna shell**_ the solid shell protecting your true self, your pure heart

_**den, hartes ciel, yor**_ yet still, don't stop loving the world

_**Presia aulla yor tes mea**_ just show me your true self.

* * *

As the final words were sung, Alma slammed into the non-moving Zero, not expecting his sudden halt. But she wrapped her arms around him none the less, and focused every thought she could on how badly she wanted to understand.

Her wings shattered like fine china, and surrounded the two in an incredibly powerful violet light, just as Zero's personal glyph, the self-named glyph of Chaos appeared beneath Alma and Mikoto's feet, their duet ending with the nude girl doing the same that Alma was, to her younger self, surprising the other girl as she felt her consciousness being pulled from all directions.

In the mental landscape created for their battle, two brilliant lights flared, one violet, one silver, as two separate minds joined as one, their wish being heard by his inner heart.

* * *

"It's over."

Kidd's eyes returned to normal. She started walking towards the infirmary wing when a loud **BOOM **echoed through the facility, accompanied by a massive whoosh of air.

"Something's changed."

The radiating black light that was growing from Zero's unconscious form had vanished…

And in its place…

Sitting atop his stomach, a confused look on her face…

Was the child form of Alma.

* * *

**A/N: **48 pages before author's note. As I warned, this chapter has a lot of nonsense within it. Things that are horribly unrealistic happening. Also as warned, this chapter featured direct mind to mind contact. Within one's mind, anything can happen as long as it obeys their rules.

Patamon32: Sorry it took so long, but here it is. I hope you can follow this one alright.

CF: So. Here it is. My very late birthday gift to you. The connection between Kidd and Zero still hasn't been fully explained, but she can access points in his mind that the other two can't. Let's just say, in regards to him, her **Comprehension** shines brighter than theirs. Happy Birthday sis.


	6. Acceptance

It felt like forever, that she was surrounded by white.

Seconds? Minutes maybe? Perhaps even hours. She didn't know. All she knew was white. And it scared her. She hoped, she _prayed _that her wish was heard, her Desire listened to.

And then the white turned pink.

_Pink? Why-_

Her thoughts were cut off, as the world of now _pink_ nothing, seemed to fragment, or rather, tear. Like fine cloth being ripped apart in a wave of passion, the world shredded itself, the pink lights revealing themselves to be sakura blossoms floating in the wind. Her bare feet felt the dirt and grass beneath her, as her nose picked up the sweet scent of sharp apple cider. Her ears heard the rustling of the trees as the soft yet powerful wind lifted their flower petals into the sky, creating an amazing looking blizzard of pink blossoms that her eyes beheld.

The sky above her was blue, but it was hard to see over the massive wall of spiraling petals. She looked around her, numerous trees decorated a large space, a crisp blue river flowing along just next to her, its shimmering waves drawing her closer. She knelt down, dipping a hand in for a brief moment before recoiling. The water was ice cold. She gathered her nerves and cupped her hands together, ignoring the biting frosty touch of the liquid.

While that cider smelled incredible, she didn't know where the scent was coming from. Nor did it slip out of her mind that she was most likely still in his, and if not, in a joint world, where he knew what was. As she brought the rivers fleeting waters to her parched lips, she came to the realization that this too, could be a test. But she responded to herself, it didn't matter. She'd come this far, she'd _blast _her way through to him if need be.

As she drank from the small pool that she had gathered in her hands, she realized the water seemed to flow endlessly. She gulped it greedily, far more thirsty than she had ever been in her life. As she finished, the water faded from her hands. She bowed her head in thanks, deciding to show respect to this unknown land, in case there was some form of guardian.

She knew she'd become stronger since the fight, or rather, **during **the fight against Zero's defenses, but she had horridly underestimated how resourceful he was…even if he obviously wasn't trying his hardest. As powerful a psychic as she was, Alma still had much to learn, and this she understood.

She got to her feet, deciding to follow the river. It had to start somewhere, right? And even if she didn't find where it started, she'd find where it ended. She walked, and as she did she took in the sights. Birds were easily navigating the mess of petals in the air, cutting holes in the near wall-like wave. She heard the cries of their young, calling for their mothers to bring them food, calling for comfort and stability.

She watched as little animals dashed between the trees. Once, she saw foxes, then as she turned her head, squirrels. As she turned her head again, she even saw a group of deer dash into the depths of the forest beyond. She looked down, down at the river, and this time noticed the fish swimming against the currents.

She admired countless flowers, beds of roses, tulips, sunflowers, even dandelions. Even the weeds were allowed to grow, oddly enough forming walls of protection around the more desirable flowers. She saw trees covered in moss, large boulders dotting the landscape, even some beehives, which she deftly avoided. Her feet padded along the soft ground, the structure of it changed by the falling petals. She even giggled as she pulled a few out of her hair, the little things getting caught in the fluttering strands.

She could vaguely make out someone singing, their voice being slightly drowned by the winds. It was soft…hauntingly beautiful. She didn't recognize any of the words, though some sounded familiar.

_Hymmnos again then…he was right, these songs __**are **__quite beautiful._

She crossed a wooden bridge, its wood railing painted blood red. She paused for a moment, admiring the view of the river, from both sides. She saw how it seemed to vanish into a wall of white, far beyond where she originally found herself. She turned, and saw it wind its way into a wall of trees. It was there she heard something familiar. Over the winds, over the singing voices. A familiar creaking. The sound of bending wood.

Almost as if possessed, she walked forward, over the rest of the small bridge, past the two oddly aligned tree stumps, and into the sheer wall of cherry blossom trees, the same wall the river passed by.

As she passed through, she saw the river again, only this time it was curled around a large hill. The creaking was louder here. Much louder. She looked around, but there were no bridges here, just water. She walked up to the riverbed, and stared across. It wasn't very wide. Not like it was a moat or anything. She nodded to herself and walked backward, before whirling around and jumping it. She silently thanked the world, for having cluttered the ground with petals, for it softened what would have probably a rather stinging landing. The hill before her was covered in green. For a moment, she thought it odd, but then realized that there were numerous factors that would keep the wind from carrying the petals onto such a curved surface.

She pushed forward. It became clear to her, after the fourth tumble, that this obstacle would not be easy to pass. But rather than cheat her way, and simply leap up, she wanted to best it like any normal person.

Call it stupid if you want, but all she ever wanted, was to be normal. So for her, this was like paradise.

She gripped onto the wall before her, sinking her fingers slightly into the dirt. To the sides of her, known to her but ignored by her, were slightly lesser inclines. She knew they were there, but she didn't care about them. She chose this path, and she would see it till its conclusion.

She pulled herself up, digging her heel into the slick grass, before reaching out with her right arm, repeating the motion her left just did. She didn't use any of her power to climb the steep incline, uncertain if doing so would just dig holes in the ground, where she'd simply fall again.

For five minutes, she slowly climbed, the creaking spurning her on farther. Every movement she made, it grew louder and louder, calling to her. As she crested the top, standing up before walking forward slightly, she saw what brought tears to her eyes.

A tree. **Her **tree. Complete with swing and everything. And as if mirroring her life, a little girl with long black hair was swinging back and forth, humming to herself. Suddenly a figure appeared from where the tree obstructed her view, and held a hand out, slowing the child. He leaned forward, and she looked at him sadly for a moment. Alma continued forward, resolved to meet with…whoever that was, and the man spoke again. The girl smiled at him, before looking back at Alma, which froze the woman in her tracks. The little girl hopped off the swing before throwing her arms around the man's neck, which he responded by pulling her into a tight hug. She said something to him, and then ran down the hill.

The man turned.

"Welcome to my garden, Alma."

* * *

The little girl blinked. She looked around the room, confused beyond belief. She felt the ground beneath her move slightly, and looked down, before she realized where she was. She jumped in surprise, unbalancing herself, and she carted over to the side, falling to the ground with a loud crash and a quiet "ow."

She stood up, rubbing her head, as the others stared.

"Well that sucked…"

"A...Alma?"

The little girl looked at the group. "I don't know. I've got no clue what just happened either. Last thing I know this…girl…was hugging me, and next I know I'm here."

"What about the older you?" Sylph asked.

"I…I don't know. I'll try to check." She closed her eyes and focused inward.

Everyone watched as she paled, a horrified look on her face.

"What's wrong?!"

"…I can't…I can't go back."

"What do you mean?" Lynn inquired.

"I can't go back to her…me…I don't get it, I did everything right…why can't I return to myself?"

A soft female voice answered.

"Because you're not me…anymore."

Everyone's heads turned to see Zero and Alma sitting up.

**F.E.A.R. Resonance Reaction**

**Interval 05**

**Acceptance**

"Zero…what is…"

"This place…it's my most sacred of grounds in my mind."

"Who was-

"That was a construct, my own, inner child, so to speak."

"How did-

"Because we're now linked so deeply that I know what you're going to do before you do it."

"…you're not gonna-

"Nope."

"Asshole."

He laughed, and sat down, gently patting the ground next to him.

"Alright…how did my tree get here?"

"I brought it here."

"…elaborate."

"Well, you remember the last time we met in a world like this, right?"

"Yes…that was when you 'liberated' the other me from everything **I **was."

"Well, after she vanished, the world was still around for a little bit…so I took the essence of what the tree represented in your mind, and simply copied it over to mine. Essentially it acts as an anchor point for your mind to reach mine with little difficulty…unless one of us blocks it off."

"And for the test, you blocked it off."

"Well yeah. I had to, or else it would have been pointless to set all that up."

"You don't like people getting into your head…do you?"

"…like you, I have too much power. I guess you could call it a fear…I just don't want anyone but myself in control of my power. I at least know what I'm going to do with it at any given time, and if a strong enough aspect of myself doesn't like what is to come, I can stop it. But if someone else were to be in control…"

"You don't know if you could stop them…especially if they were strong enough to break past your defenses…"

"I knew _you'd _understand…the only other one that does is Kidd…"

"You always praise that one…why?"

"Because she's a kid. She's at least four years younger than all of us…but she exhibits some of the traits I wouldn't expect to see in someone her age. She's got a powerful mind, a strong will…like everyone else she has her problems, but the thing is she mirrors myself so well it's scary. A lot of the things I've told her, that I've taught her, she already had inklings of. All I did was clarify them. That's a sign of a powerful soul…and those are getting rarer and rarer, even if the world is changing."

"And me?"

"What about you?"

"How did you split me?"

"I didn't. You were already split. You had truth floating in your mind, but because of how things fell together, you doubted. As such, in your mind, you were still a child, or rather, you preferred to be a child. And I can't blame you for it. All I did was take the parts that were unnatural, and removed them."

"But you didn't do it consciously…did you?"

"You catch on fast. No, I didn't. Like with Kidd, all it took was someone who would, and could, understand. Someone who was willing to listen, to guide."

"Someone who's mind wouldn't reject me."

"Exactly. That resonance is what lead you to be here today."

She shook her head. "No Zee…I'm not **here **because of what you did. I'm **here…"**

She crawled over and literally sat on top of him, throwing her arms around his neck and just straddling his waist.

"…because I love you. And because you scared the living crap out of us."

"…sorry. It's…difficult…"

"To fight yourself. I know. You know I know. And I'm…flattered, that you'd put yourself at such risk for me."

"Just adds to it, ne?"

She smiled. "Exactly. Now, I've got one more question."

"You've got a lot more than one."

"True, but those can wait. What the **hell **was that?"

"Which part?"

"ALL OF IT. The visions, the beams, the song, what was it?"

"The beams…well…lets just say at that level they were only charged to evict you from my mind if you were hit. Normally, they'd erase anything not of me that they touched."

"…good to know."

"The visions…were…"

"That girl…she saw…what I'd become. And you did something. What was it?"

"He…_**I**_ call it Division by Zero."

"That's…an impossibility though…isn't it? Any number divided by zero becomes zero…right?"

"Yeah, like Multiplication, zero just knocks everything down to itself. Which doesn't even make sense in my mind…"

"Yeah…you'd think that since you're not multiplying it by anything or dividing it by anything, it would stay the same."

"Yeah well…math never did make sense to me in the first place…but anyway, the idea came from a meme."

"…what?"

"An internet thing. It's pretty much widely speculated in internet comedy that if anyone were to _successfully _divide by zero, they'd open a hole in the universe. Usually leading to the collapse of space-time and the end of all existence."

"Sounds fun."

"Isn't it? Anyway, the idea was to create a massive gravitational field, one strong enough to warp the very fabric of time and space, and make something happen. Since reality is distorted so heavily-

"Anything would be possible, because for a moment, all rules wouldn't apply…genius…"

"Apparently you were originally meant to become so powerful that reality was replaced by yours…I'm assuming that lead to the end of the world or something, I dunno…I was…preoccupied…"

"I could feel how close you were to her…I…I'm sorry I-

"It wasn't _your _fault. Stupid girl decided it was a perfectly plausible idea…she made her choice…but…what it does is it turns reality false, and makes the impossible, possible."

"That much power…has to have a cost."

"It does. The first time I used it there was none, because it was essentially two people using it at the same time. Myself, and Me from an alternate future. That, and the purpose was lesser than it could have been. The 'Truth' that was created was simply me having knowledge I would have gained in about ten or so years. The bigger the change, the heavier the distortion you need, and the heavier the distortion, the greater strain on the mind, to the point where it's possible for me to completely _erase _myself, doing it."

Her eyes widened. She tried to speak but no sound came.

"I know…that's why I don't do it often at all. This is only the second time I've done it. And once again, circumstance weakened the backlash. You happened to be channeling your own reality warping powers in tune with mine."

"What is it. Really. At its base?"

"It…makes a change. A change in the World. The Universe. It's much greater than Marble Phantasm, or a Reality Marble, it…basically is like the Big Bang, only not. It _could _be. If the change I wanted to make was pure Destruction…but…"

"Basically…it's a limit break?"

"…yeah…you could call it that. A last ditch effort. I know…my subconscious mind has already set a command in place. If I'm knocked unconscious by a malicious force for too long, and not enough familiar essences are around in a given timeframe, it will trigger…"

She stared at him. "What's the range?"

"City sized…maybe the size of Manhattan Island."

"Fuck, me…" she said breathily. "That much power…is in you?"

"Well, that's the other half of it. Much like the Singularity, it strengthens depending on how many gravitational fields I link it to. Theoretically, if I had enough time, and could hold out long enough, I could not only link it to the planet's natural field, but the very gravitational link between Earth and the Moon."

"…which not only would give you enough power to wipe out civilization as we know it, but to also make whatever change in the universe you wanted…jeez…and I thought _I _had the World Ending powers…"

"Yours…act a lot faster than mine. DbZ as I call it, takes a while to charge. And the greater the effect I want, the longer the charge time. Though usually as I charge it I put out a smaller field, to buy more time…I've only used it twice…but **he **used it a few more times…mostly counteracting anything you did…"

"Even before we knew each other we were intertwined huh?"

"Yeah. Strange isn't it?"

She wiggled slightly. "I like this way better. But before I get distracted, what did you _do _this time?"

"…I don't know…I activated it…well, my subconscious mind activated it, with the intention of wiping out everything around me, because it was afraid of you, and what you could do…but then the little you started singing Sphilia…" He trailed off, staring into space.

"Mikoto."

A flicker of air, and the little black haired girl had returned.

"Daddy?"

"What did you do…back there?"

"I made her wish come true."

Alma blinked. "Wish? What wish?"

"She was like Pinocchio. She wanted to be a real girl. She didn't know it, but that's what she truly wanted. So I gave it to her." She frowned. "I…didn't make a mistake, did I Daddy?"

"No, no…it's fine. Better that than what I had planned. You did good Miko."

She smiled. Alma was struck by how beautiful the child looked. _I wonder…is this the feeling he got…when he first met me?_

"You can go home now Miko."

"Ok!" She turned and vanished. Alma turned to Zero again.

"_Daddy_?"

"It's…complicated. She's…basically my image of what my daughter _could _be like. All sorts of awesome wrapped in the body of a child…but she's still another defense, so she's warped to being extremely loyal to me…and doing things for me that I didn't even realize I wanted done. She's…my songstress, my child, my…existence."

Alma nodded. "It's a test then…a conscious loop, training yourself for when you become an actual parent…I…never got to even hold my kids…and now not only have both of them grown up, but one of them is dead by the hand of the other…and the other…is trapped."

Zero reached up and cupped her cheek. "Hey, we'll get him back." She shook her head. "It's not that…" She stared downward.

"…They're mine…but at the same time, they aren't. I had no control over what was happening…I was just a breeding tool. They were basically born in a lab…I don't…just want my son back…I…he's an individual now. He's an adult, I missed his life, his childhood…I saw into his head for that brief moment. He didn't even know he had a mother. And he had no father. Not even a name. not even a _number._ But…he was ok with that. When we clashed, it explained a lot to him, it opened a lot of doors that in his mind were closed…and he was happy about that. To be honest, what I felt in his mind was more along the lines of: 'Hey, I _do _have a mom, and her life was even more fucked up than mine? Holy hell.' He was…interested. I don't…ever…expect him to love me as a mother, I mean look at me, I'm pushing forty, but I'm in the body of a twenty year old! But…he's interested. And that's why…that's why I want to get him back."

"Then we will." She shook her head again.

"It's…that's not all though. I'm a mother…a woman…but the last thing I remember before waking up in the haze of rage was them carrying off my children. But I don't remember being a woman when it happened. I…never really got to _be _a mother…" She looked up at him, staring right into his eyes.

"I want that to change."

He blinked. There were multitudes of possibilities racing through his mind…but he wasn't sure what was true, and what wasn't.

"I want to **be **a mother. And I want to be a mother…with you as their father."

_Oh. Well…that puts everything right shiny doesn't it?_

He opened his mouth to speak, but she put a finger on his lips, once again, shaking her head.

"You don't have to answer now. There's been…so much going on between us. Too much. I only know that I love you. I love you so much. And it doesn't make sense why…but I don't care anymore. Somehow…you gave me a second chance at life. At being a person, at…being a parent. And now, you've given my other self a chance to be the child we never got to be. Even when you didn't intend to, you've done _everything _for me. And that's what made me realize I love you. But…I don't expect it in return. Not yet at least. I just…wanted you to know…"

He nodded. "I…can't say I feel the same. But the stirrings of it are there. You _are _beautiful. And teaching you how to **be **has been the most…enjoyable thing I've done. You've got all the traits in a woman I like, and you can keep up with me…for the most part…if my power gets out of hand. Hell you're the first one to actually _win _inside my head. The girls only managed to convince me to come back. You **beat **me back. That's got serious merit."

"It wasn't easy…"

"But you didn't give up. I _really _like that in a person. I don't mind if a person suddenly shifts tracks, they could have been wrong about something. But I don't like people who just give up. Not unless like, the entire _world _is against them. But you basically pulled an Anime on me, and _refused _to give up. And that's probably what let you synch with me to the point where not only did the little you manage to break down my defenses with one of my most favorite songs; whose meaning pretty much _is _unification, but you managed to _match _the full power of my subconscious. That takes _skills _Alma. Skills I don't see in people often at all. I…can't say I love you, I wouldn't dare, it wouldn't be right to give you potentially false hope. But…"

He slipped his arms around her waist. "I can definitely say _something _is brewing. And quickly."

"…then that's all I need."

She smiled at him.

"Now…shall we wake up?"

"Let's."

* * *

"I…what?"

"Ouch, can you be any more blunt Alma?"

Alma shook her head, sweeping her hair back.

Kidd blinked. "Oh…_that's _what it did this time?"

"Why are you always light years ahead of us?" Lynn muttered.

"Can't help it if I'm just that awesome."

"Can someone _PLEASE _explain to me what's going on?!" The little Alma was getting hysterical. Seeing this Zero slipped out of the bed, intending to sweep the girl up in a tight hug of reassurance…only he fell on his face, much like the little girl in front of him did earlier.

"Kgha! Sommfa bissh! Foo duh fuhhk turnd uff ma lgs?!"

The elder Alma, along with Kidd, Becket, Sylph and Lynn began howling with laughter. The little Alma's hysteria subsided slightly, seeing that who she considered her older brother being in a similar position she was. He climbed to his knees, holding his face.

"yaa yaa laff it up. Stupid legs not working right." He sat back down, stuck for a bit while his body finished re-booting his lower regions. The smaller Alma understood what he was trying to do however, and plopped down next to him, letting him wrap his arms around the child.

"What I was _gonna _say, is that you've been given a body separate from your older self."

"That…doesn't explain."

"**You **have a body now. As in a physical form, not just a manifestation that can interact with the world through will. You have a flesh and blood body now."

She stared. "Wh-how?!"

Kidd piped up. "Division by Zero, right big bro?"

"Yeah. In short, a massive gravity well that can distort reality for a brief instant, allowing for **anything **to be possible."

"And…you…gave me…my own body?"

"Well…technically? **I **didn't, that is to say, I didn't consciously do it."

The elder Alma slipped over to the two. "An aspect of him took control at the last second, granting your wish to be a real person, not just a shadow."

"I…_thank you._" She could say little. So she just hugged him with all she had.

Stokes stared blankly. "…sooo…is everything shiny now?"

Both Alma brightened. "Yep!" They replied in unison.

"What the hell happened there?" Betters asked. It _was _his infirmary after all.

"Series of tests put forth to screen the sheep from the shepards. Followed by my inner subconscious survival instinct-turned sentience to try to 'erase' the two Alma and Becket from my mindscape. It only succeeded in kicking Becket, and locking the little one into the big one."

"Then it got threatened and triggered a subconscious command locked in his mind to wipe out everything within the radius of about…fifty miles?"

"You know this _how _Kidd?"

"I hitched a ride with the whelp."

"You hitched…wait…you _shadowed _her? I thought that was Lynn's shtick!"

"Who says I can't pick it up?"

"You…think so much like me sometimes it's scary."

"I know. It's fun though."

"…don't tell me she copied me."

"Sorry Lynn."

"oh **DAMMIT**!"

"Copy?" Becket asked, in place of his side of the group.

"**Mimicry **is a high ranking psychic ability. One schools the mind and body to be an exact copy of someone else. Kidd here can alter her own mental field to copy _abilities_. Not all. And definitely not exact, but she can still do it. Lynn's power is to Shadow someone, to jump into the recesses of their mind without detection. It was born from a modified self-preservation skill that had been causing more harm than good."

"Interesting…" Jin trailed off. Betters took over once again, calling for a further explanation of things.

"Right, where do we go from here then. Armacham's still got Alma's son, and I doubt they're happy about having a good chunk of their forces taken down in a single day."

"No…they wouldn't be." The little Alma agreed.

"We had the location locked in our systems before Kidd started synching with Zero. I don't know…we turned the computer off, right?" Sylph inquired to her peers. Lynn nodded a response.

"Yeah, I did, just before I hopped in the car. So it should be fine."

"Elaboration requested." Zero spoke up, still holding the smaller Alma.

"About half way here, ya musta let out some sor'a psychic pulse or somethin'. Fried a shitton of electrical devices around us. Bloody car crashed too."

"Mou…I liked that car…"

"Dunno the range of it, but it wasn't pretty. Prolly by now everythin's gotten rebooted, but we're not sure if it affected sleepers as well."

"Yeah…alright, off memory, what can you tell me?"

Lynn outlined what they knew. "We pin-pointed his location to be in this city. We'll need some help finding the _exact _spot, because there was a lot of blank spots in the way, which I assume were activated replicas. The radius of his psychic field was pretty vast, which makes it almost impossible for even the three of us working together to get an exact spot. Going on the reports your father left behind, we can assume his location is similar to the Origin Facility, deep underground, probably in an unassuming area."

"Er…"

Everyone looked at Kidd.

"I…kinda spoke with him."

Eyes widened. She hastily continued, staving off any questions.

"When you guys pulled me out while Alma was duelin' Weapon, he musta slipped in the small cracks made by my disappearance. When I went back, he was watching, like I was. He seemed worried about his momma though, but I warn'd him not to do anythin' while we were in there. I don't think he's fully under ATC's control, at least not the deepest parts of his mind, so getting him out may be easier than we think. But then again, if we take into account that he's probably just below Becket in terms of power, considering he was able to detect _my _location and use _my _link to observe things, even if it was basically my Reality Marble, he's probably gotten a lot more skilled in wielding his power."

"…he was in my head?"

"He was in _my _head, watching you through my Reality Marble, which I created after riding in on Alma's link."

"therefore he was technically in my head. And I didn't detect him **how**?"

"Because I was maskin' both of us. I know how your defenses work big bro, I wanted to be able to report on what was goin' on, but I wasn't about to risk Alma's chances at getting you back, even if I had to let some guy float around in my Space to keep you from noticing. Your defenses were looking towards Alma, and I'd rode in on her shadow, but you weren't looking for anything _but _her. Because I kept my Marble to her wavelength, you didn't detect anything wrong, but I knew that the slightest slip would have all of us as mindless husks."

The older Alma blinked. "Mindless…wait what?"

"Remember sis." Kidd started, surprising everyone with her terminology towards Alma. "Zee here is a stronger psychic force **internally **ratha than ex. Because a' that, he can lock down anyone inside his mind, and literally tear them apart until their mind is nothing. And if he's _really _pissed, he can even **absorb **their knowledge and skills, like you. But unlike you, he can't translate that into reality, it only works if they get in his head first. It doesn't matter how powerful you are, if you're in someone else's head, you're only as strong as they allow you to be. Sure, you have a level of base strength available to you from yourself, but they control anything beyond that. And if your base strength is lower than their summoned strength, then you're effectively their playtoy."

"…that sounds useful. Any way I can get in on this?" Stokes blurted out randomly, causing the others to laugh.

"I'm actually surprised. You've got the build for it, but it's like, your mind's locked down. I don't think you'll ever be able to do anything outward…"

The Almas spoke as one: "She was immune to us."

"Eh?" Kidd blinked. "Our power. We couldn't influence her, we couldn't even see her. Usually we can see non-psychics as well, minor irritants really, but she was just a blank."

The three girls whirled around and looked at Kiera Stokes, surprised.

Zero whispered, but in the silent room, it echoed.

"…dead zone…"

The Almas jumped. "What?!"

"…a localized Dead Zone confined internally…so my theory was right after all…" He continued, not noticing everyone's stares.

"Hun…explain please?" Sylph said gently.

"A Dead Zone…kinda like for Cell Phones, is an area in the world where one's powers are limited or completely nullified. I don't know if they actually exist or not, but the theory is there. If I'm right…Stokes _herself _is one. **That **is her power. To nullify the effects of anyone else's upon her. At least…the mental arts." He looked at Stokes, and rose his right hand.

Immediately she dropped to her knees, her body feeling pressured from all over. Not painful, but definitely uncomfortable. Seconds later the pressure faded as suddenly as it came.

"I thought so…she cant null my gravitational fields, so it's all in her head. That's…actually pretty damn useful. Hmm…"

Lynn knew the signs. He was going into Contemplation mode, and that wasn't something they could afford right now.

"Hey, forget it for now ok?"

"Huh? Oh sorry. It's just…the theory is so…_good._"

She nodded. "I know, just, not now. It'll eat up too much time, and even if you're right, it would take _forever _to get it to work. Better to wait."

"Right, right." He nodded. "Ok, my ass is starting to hurt. Can we take this somewhere else?" He looked at Kidd. A memory playing in his head.

_Alma waved her hand at a nearby lamp post and flung it at Zero, who responded by sending a metal door to intercept it. He stepped left, letting a spinning bench fly past him, and Alma flinched, giving a small shriek, throwing her arms up._

_In a move that surprised even Zero, if only for a moment, the wooden bench burst into flame, and quickly into ash moments later._

"Yeah…I need to test something anyway…"

"Wh'cha need bro?"

"You'll see. I think…a little game should get me back to form…ne?"

Kidd's eyes sparkled, flecks of red beginning to appear. "We haven't played in a while…and you _did _promise me, **months** ago."

"Well, let's rectify that. It'll give things time to settle down anyway. You know I think best while doing something."

She nodded. "Back out there then?"

"Yeah. While we're there, I'll come up with a rough idea of how to proceed."

She nodded. "See you there then?"

"Yeah, I gotta set up anyway."

He nudged the smaller Alma, who climbed out of his lap and to her feet. He stood and stretched, gave the smaller Alma a soft peck on her forehead, calling a blush from the child, before turning and doing the same to the elder's cheek, before vanishing in a ripple of air.

"Where'd he-

"Back outside, to the training area. He's got a lot to think about and he needs it done in a short amount of time, so, we're gonna open his head a bit. Plus, he owes me a game. Trust me on this, you'll like it."

* * *

As the group stepped out to the field, they felt a tremendous wave of pressure crash over them, as a pillar of dust rose into the air.

"What…the hell?!" Betters yelled out from the ground.

"Whoops! Sorry about that!" Zero called out from the dust cloud. A second later, the shroud was ripped away, and everyone blinked as they saw a solid field.

"Wait…where'd the craters go?!"

"Yeah I fixed those. Kinda had to use some of the stuff lying around though…"

Everyone stared. Well, everyone save his girls. "How…"

"Just kinda chipped off some ground from here and there, put it together with some dead bodies and some random fragments of helicopters, then layered some dirt over it, a bit of pressure and presto, makeshift crater fixin's."

"You…can do that?!" Morales asked.

"It's gravity dude. Gravity can do a _lot _of things."

"Yea, yea we know yer hot shit, can we get to it now?"

"Impatient, aren't we?"

"I've been waiting for this for a while."

Kidd stepped forward, tossing her jacket to the little Alma. "Hang on to that would ya? He bought it for me, I dun wanna lose it." The little one nodded, and Kidd continued until she was just across from Zero.

"Alma, mind throwing up a wall? Don't want anyone getting caught in the crossfire…literally."

"Wait, what are you doing?"

"They're gonna spar. We've never gotten to see her let loose…" _But why now, all of a sudden? _Lynn thought to herself.

"So what's our range bro?"

"Let's keep it to stuff people can see."

"Awe…alright." _I'll just have to spice it up a bit._ "First blood?"

"Or exhaustion." Kidd nodded.

"Ready?" She asked, slightly tensing.

He nodded.

The two stared at one another for a few moments, before suddenly Zero thrust out his palm. A ripple of air rocketed towards Kidd, however she slightly turned herself, the wave of force passing by, ruffling her clothes. She retaliated with a glare, Zero jumping back slightly to dodge a sudden explosion of fire. He reached forward, causing the ground beneath her to ripple. She jumped ahead, dodging a collapsing wave of intent, before her eyes lit up, a wall of fire glancing off the hastily formed gravitational shield Zero summoned.

Suddenly, Becket's side began vibrating. He looked down only to cry out in surprise as his guns were pulled from their holsters. Betters' pistol, Stokes' handgun, Morales' sidearm, they all flew away from their owners. Zero caught the pistol and handgun, holding them out forward as a multitude of weaponry began floating out behind him like a fan. Submachine guns, pistols, AK-47's, Shotguns, all manner of firearm appeared next to him, surrounding him like a spinning wall of metallic pain.

Kidd caught on to what he was planning and glared again.

"Tch…"

As Zero smirked and opened fire, her hair began to flutter, as her eyes tinted red. Everyone, even the Girls, stared in shock as bullets were suddenly met by small bursts of flame, just as they reached a few inches away from her. They saw the flashes of light as each bullet was fired, and watched as small flecks of burnination would appear around Kidd, in the exact spots in front of her body where the bullets would have penetrated. Zero smiled, commanding the guns to spread out while reloading. He only grabbed one extra clip for each weapon though, so Kidd took a breath at that, only to step back slightly as a shotgun flew practically right in her face, a large burst of flame erupting the second it fired.

"How…what is she…?" Jin fumbled to speak, shocked by the display.

"Holy crap she's flash-melting them before they touch her? I didn't know that was even _possible!_" Lynn exclaimed.

It was then that the other guns began orbiting her, pelting her with their payloads, each one being thwarted by her unseen shield. However, the constant barrage was irritating her, and as one bullet passed her defenses and whizzed by her face, her eyes narrowed as her irises became full red. She snarled, similarly to Alma when _she _was up against Zero, and growled. After the growl, a wave of heat washed over the battlefield, the guns suddenly turning orange with heat, before exploding. Zero froze in surprise, giving Kidd an opening.

She placed her hands together, clasping them while keeping both index fingers raised. She pulled her head back, gathering both air and will, as a very miniscule flame appeared between her extended fingers. She called out in her mind, the minds of those open to her hearing her cry.

_**Katon: Goukyakuu no jutsu!**_

_FUCK!_

She snapped her head forward, energy, will and air combining as she forcefully expelled all the oxygen she had taken in, turning the small flicker of fire into a massive stream.

She'd become a walking flamethrower.

Zero only had a split second to react, the flames were raging towards him faster than he'd expected. He curved the world around him, creating a shell protecting him from her burning will. However, she kept up her onslaught, the stream of fire still emerging from her fingers as she threw everything she could into it.

There was one weakness to his defense, and she was exploiting it.

Suddenly, the flames billowed out, as he rocketed into the air. Small tendrils of fire still flickered around his form, as the spherical wall of protection surrounded him. He threw his hands out, grasping onto the remaining untouched Replica deployment pods, before landing on one as he directed them to shoot for her. He and his makeshift air-board raced for her position, crashing into the ground where she stood…but she'd already moved. Ducking, weaving, jumping, even rolling, she evaded the pods as they crashed. She'd cleared the distance between their starting points, now he was where she had begun, and vice versa. She was panting. That much focus, to keep the stream up, to keep her defenses up, and then to sprint full on, away from his crafts, was draining her. But she felt good, at the same time…and reasoned, after this next trick, she'd feel worse, and yet even better.

Zero pushed away the dust cloud, only to see Kidd tilt her head back, tensing her entire body…

And then scream.

A **massive **pillar of dust erupted from beneath her feet, her psychic will ripping out and crashing into the ground beneath her. The grains of dust and sand spiraled around her form, the motions confusing all present. She loosed another roar, and a wall of fire burst from around her, flashing along the particles. As the flames vanished, a strange film seemed to be in the sky. The Almas gasped in shock as Zero's eyes bugged out at the sight.

"Nicole…" Sylph muttered, eyes widened.

Kidd reached a single hand into the air, grasping at the unknown object above her. A loud shattering sound rung in everyone's ears, as Zero took a step back in shock. She thrust her arm down, and streaks of light seemed to rocket from the weird film above her, and down at Zero's form. The sound of hundreds of objects cutting through the air ripped through the field, the shimmering waves crashing into a dome of distorted air that surrounded Zero's now tensed form.

"What…what the hell was that?!" Becket exclaimed.

"She…she took hold of the dirt…and dust particles in the air…" The smaller Alma began. And the older Alma finished. "She clumped them together…and then _**turned them into glass.**_"

Silence accompanied their revelation.

Zero's barrier rippled with each impact, the shards bursting into atoms upon collision with his field. He watched through hazy air as Kidd lifted her right arm again, a small sphere of flame appearing within, before it grew to the size of a basketball. She hurled the sphere at him, as the last of the glass shards crashed into his barrier. In the split second before the flame reached him, he altered his field. The heat singed his shirt, but he'd changed the way gravity worked, sustaining the sphere of fiery will while pulling it around his body, launching it back at twice the speed. Exhausted, it was all she could do to change her own mental field to prepare for the oncoming sphere. She took it head-on, too tired to dodge, the sphere exploding in her face, but not doing any damage besides knocking her backwards, due to her own field canceling out the flames.

She coughed slightly, as she lay on the ground spread eagle, head ringing.

"Bloody…hell…"

Zero's form appeared next to her, crouching down, checking her over for injuries.

"Almost…got you."

"You know why you lost?"

"'cause I'm still too weak…"

He shook his head. "No. Because it was **me.** As egotistical as it sounds, if you'd been fighting _anyone _else, you'd have had them at multiple points. **Especially **with that little glassing trick. I _really _didn't see that one coming. The nature of my power negates a lot of others', yours included. **That **is why I won. Not because of skill or tactics, but because my power is in a sense, superior to many others'. Damn though…you got close. Any wrong move on my part would have had my ass fried, or with far more holes in me than I think would be comfortable."

She sat up, noticing the others heading their way. "I'll just have to come up with even more crazy shit then, wont I big bro?"

"Indeed." He helped her up. "And don't even get me started on that Goukyakuu. Picture perfect that was." She smiled and he turned to Alma.

"I've thought some things up. But first, we need to upgrade your arsenal. And come up with a name for the little one."

"Eh?" the child looked at him. "Why?"

"Because you're your own person now kiddo. You need a new name, to reflect your new life. We have time to ponder that later though. As soon as we get back, we have to train you up on your flames."

"…That's why." The Alma's spoke as one.

"Yeah. This was to show you what you could potentially do. Still though…_glassing?_ Where did you come up with that?"

"Halo."

"…I should have known…"

* * *

**A/N: **The results of Alma's efforts, the revealing of the final girl's skills, AND a seriously heated (pun intended) sparring match between brother and sister.

I think this chapter was suitably epic.

CF: yes indeed. And this one has even more. Enjoy!

Special Shout Out goes to Kurakawa Minamo, who on their own with no prompting what-so-ever from me, is making a fanart of my Alma. I'm totally flattered, honored and psyched for this!

Interweb cookie to whoever can name the weakness in Zero's defense that Kidd was exploiting!


	7. Rescue

**F.E.A.R. Resonance Reaction**

**Interval 06**

**Rescue**

The sphere opened. Alma mused that it was extremely similar to the one she and Becket at one point were held in. Zero tapped his foot as the top half of the sphere rose upward enough to reveal the man strapped to the chair within. Alma hopped over the gap, twitching her fingers, straps undoing themselves, binds being unbound.

The man opened his eyes. He saw the smiling tear streaked face of the woman who gave birth to him, so long ago. The connection between mother and son flared to full, as she gently wrapped her arms around his waist, sobbing.

_Oh good…it doesn't hurt anymore. That would have sucked if it did._ He thought, before wearily returning the embrace.

Miranda, who was next to Zero, smiled. Their son had finally been returned to them. _Jin will be happy_. She thought. Before her thoughts could go further, Zero cleared his throat.

"I hate to ruin the moment, but we're still in enemy territory. We need to get him out of here, yesterday."

Alma pulled away, drying her tears and nodding. "Can you stand?" She asked the man before her.

"..ea.." He tried to speak, then frowned. _Oh balls…oh wait…_

'_Hey…can you hear me?'_

Alma's eyes widened. "Are you-

'_Throat's kinda dry right now. I can't speak very well at the moment. I figured I'm psychic now or…have been for a while, so I'd give this a shot. Gimme a sec, I don't know how long I've been sitting, but I'm pretty sure I cant feel my ass right now.'_

Miranda snorted. "Sounds like something you would say, Zero."

"Can only sit for so long, no matter how comfortable the chair is, before one's ass begins to go numb from the constant pressure." He nodded sagely.

Alma gently held her son's hand, as he stood on wobbly legs. Miranda twitched in anticipation, her elder self's emotions flowing into her. She levitated a few random planks, and held them in place, for the two to slowly hobble over to where she and Zero stood.

If the two girls had been paying attention a bit more, they would have noticed Zero shift slightly. A very faint sign that something was off.

"Get him out of here."

They all looked at Zero. He was staring straight ahead, at the containment device similar to the Psychic Amplifier on Still Island.

"We will, but-

"Port. He's born from you so he should at least have some trace of enhanced movement ability. Even if not, the two of you combined are enough to cut through the world anyway. I'll catch up. Shifting doesn't work like your teleporting."

Alma looked at him, but nodded. Miranda wasn't so sure, but she went along with it anyway.

'_Hey, can he hear me?'_

"Faintly. Either you're not as strong a telepath, my defenses are blocking you out mostly, or you're just tired."

'_Thanks. For taking care of her…and…helping me out.'_

"Just doing what I do best."

The man nodded, Alma's unnamed son gently squeezing his mother's shoulder, noting he was ready. Miranda hopped on his back, surprising both her elder self and him at the motion.

"Faster this way. I can redirect our fields better from this position too."

The man groaned slightly, but allowed the girl to stay.

"Hey."

They looked at him. "Tell the others it's been real, k?"

"You can tell them yourself. Not that I get what that means." Miranda returned.

"Yeah." He said absently.

It wasn't until she felt the distortion form around her, did Alma's mind stop focusing on her son, and register what Zero said. Her eyes widened as the implications of his request hit her, seconds before the slight pulling feeling of her personal teleportation field shot through her, the world blending for a moment, before they were outside.

"You made it!"

"Is that him?"

Sylph and Lynn asked at the same time. Miranda plopped down from the man's back, as Alma answered in the positive. The replicas were just standing around, shut down, from when Alma, Miranda, and Zero freed her son from his mental and physical captivity.

Kidd's eyes narrowed. Something didn't add up. _It's been twenty seconds. Something's wrong here._

"Where's Zee?"

"He said he'd catch up. Something about shifting not being as fast." Miranda replied.

Kidd shook her head. "Bull. It's been over forty seconds now. He should have been here."

Lynn got a strange look on her face. "Wait…what are you saying? Why the hell would he stay-

Kidd's eyes widened suddenly, as her body went rigid.

"**Synchronicity…Chain."**

* * *

The three had left. Zero shifted over to where the sphere was, before ripping the chair out from where it stood.

_Just a placeholder. It means nothing._

There was a loud clang as it bounced off the platform, before falling into the abyss below. He reached out, wiggling his fingers. The control yokes moved into position, a soft humming noise as the internal generator became active again. The top half of the sphere lowered around him, until it closed shut with a metallic click. For a few seconds, he was submerged in darkness, until tiny blue-white lights lit up the inside.

He'd seen it in his dreams. An outcome to the day's events he wanted no part in.

The city would be purged. Someone from ATC would activate a hidden, recently created command for the compound to self-destruct. Much like with Auburn, the reactor here would go critical, exploding the contents, creating yet another nuclear blast…one that would wipe the city he came to call home out of existence.

He couldn't let that happen. And to stop it, he was going to do the one thing he promised he wouldn't. But even he knew, as much power as he had, he couldn't do it alone. He was fragmented, like Alma. He would need to do more than just immerse himself in his inner mind…he would need to unite.

The boost from the containment field wouldn't hurt things either.

He closed his eyes…focused inward…and spoke.

"**Synchronicity…Chain."**

* * *

Everyone stared at Kidd, who's eyes turned not red, like usual…but the very same silver-grey that Zero himself would gain.

"**Activation of subroutine number Zero-Zero-Zero confirmed."**

'_Hey, what's happening?'_

"I don't know, she's linking with Zero but-

"NICOLE! What's going on?!"

"**Full Synchronization complete."**

She continued to stare blankly into space, mouth moving, but an emotionless tone coming from her voice.

_**Accessing Primary Limiters.**_

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" Lynn yelled.

"**Disabling Auto-Safety routines."**

Suddenly, everyone was blinded by a flash of white.

_**Initiating Seven Point Unity Sequence**_

They saw Zero, standing in the sphere.

"**Disabling Primary Limiters."**

His arms rose to the air, eyes closed, mouth slightly moving.

_**Executing Secondary Purge lines.**_

They watched as his body seemed to be surrounded by a heavy haze.

"**Disabling Secondary Limiters."**

A small colorless distortion began forming between his hands.

_**Processing projected area of effect.**_

Another flash of white, and they saw something new.

"**Gravitational Link Confirmed."**

They saw six beings, standing arranged in a wide circle.

_**Command Lines accessed, proceeding to second stage.**_

Grey lines began forming between them, until each person was at the ends of a six pointed star.

"**Deploying Omega-Class Gravitational Field."**

Together they glowed. Yellow, Red, Green, Blue, Black, and White. The colors shimmered together, until they combined into a single radiant pillar.

_**Dimensional Boundary accessed, unlocking final limiters.**_

They watched as Zero opened his eyes, shimmering silver, yet reflecting all the colors they'd just witnessed.

"**Access complete. Code X.E.N. initialized. Dimensional Boundary Gate connected."**

The world shifted again flickering like a bad television image. There was a rumbling as the air around him seemed to ripple like water in a pond.

_**Limiter release. Gateway connected. Dimensional Boundary Field deployed. Accessing reality construction…Stabilizing…Stability confirmed. Preparations complete. Executing Program.**_

There was a ringing noise, almost like a doorbell.

"_**Division by Zero."**_

* * *

Sight returned to normal, as a massive rumbling ripped through the area. Planks of wood, slabs of concrete, walls of bricks and stone all dropped to the ground as the rumbling simulated that of an earthquake.

And then…they stopped.

Even grains of dust suddenly stopped swirling, landing on what seemed like a wall of solid air. Glass, ash, beds, tables, plants, even bones began rising from the ground, as the wall seemed to curve. As they all watched the building before them become covered in a heavy haze, the "wall" became more of a "web", objects "sticking" to it as it rose to the heavens.

Kidd's eyes snapped back to their original color. The shimmering almost sky-like blue. She tensed, as something washed over her, over all of them…and everything seemed to stop.

"_**Toki wa hanase."**_

* * *

A single figure stood, as the world seemed to grey out, color appearing to vanish from everything.

"No…bloody…way…" Kidd's voice echoed. The world became a colorless void, grey covering everything.

"_**As much as I'd like to, I'm afraid it's so."**_

They all turned to see a girl. Long pale white hair flowed down her back, a simple light purple nightgown covering white flesh.

"Schala…? You're-

"**Dead. I'm just a spirit, a memory. But…"** She stepped toward the group, slowly fading into color as she did so. The light purple became darker, her eyes changed from grey to a sky blue, and her hair gained a slight golden tint.

"I see he did it. Just like I thought he would."

"Schala…what's…what's going on here?" Sylph asked, forcing down her shock.

"…he had a vision. One I had no control over. The vision stated he, Alma, and her other self would find her missing son. They would rescue him, and would return. Someone would send a coded command into the heart of this compound. The command would dictate the reactor to overload, and detonate…"

'_Just like the Origin Facility…right? The place would go nuclear.'_

"That is correct. The explosion would be much larger this time though."

"Our town…gets destroyed doesn't it Schala?" Lynn realized.

"Yes. He didn't want that to happen…"

"But why would he go that far?!" Kidd yelled. "Bloody prick is strong enough without-

"Because it was already happening."

That silenced the younger girl.

"That's right. Someone must have thought ahead. He did what he did…to heavily distort reality, to stop what was already occurring, from completing."

"What's the **purpose**." Miranda asked.

"…erasing a possibility, along with erasing that facility from existence." Was Schala's answer.

"I…don't know much about you." Alma said, gaining everyone's attention. "But…I…_we_ saw his memory of you. You were a sister to him…and he held you in very high regard. Even higher than Kidd, and he treats her almost as if she were a living goddess in human skin. But I do know…of your power. And I know that you wouldn't be here without reason. I know his skills, we're not in danger…but he is, isn't he?"

Schala nodded. "I'm glad my death lead him to someone like you. Yes, he's going to be erased doing this."

'_you mean die.'_

She shook her head. "No. The amount of energy he's expending will do more than just rend his physical form. The distortion…and exertion…will literally break his mind. He will lose his concept of self…and be worse than dead."

"What do we do?" Miranda asked. She was tired, but no way in _hell _was she losing the man who saved her life.

"As you can see, time, has stopped. I have removed you all from the flow of this current stream. We cannot stop him, in fact it would be worse if we tried. No, our goal is to _help _him. If each of you gives a part of your life force to him, you can all balance the burden of his request, and like both times before, keep him here."

"So we're anchor points?" Lynn asked.

"Something like that. The problem is that the distortion has become so heavy that you would not be able to reach him from here. On top of that…the Full Synchronization has blocked his mind from all outside access."

Upon hearing the words outside access, the two Alma slammed their eyes shut, coming to the same conclusion.

* * *

Strands of color surrounded them. They were entrapped in a vortex of bright. A wall of silver before them, they pushed on, the psychedelic world warping around them…until they suddenly hit a wall, and their ears were filled with a horrid screeching.

It felt like their flesh was being torn apart. They squeezed their eyes shut, clutching their heads and crying out in agony. Pressure surrounded them from all sides.

They couldn't breathe.

Thoughts? What were thoughts?

Surrounded by noise, struck by color, engulfed by sound.

Pain.

Sweet, glorious pain.

Rage, fear, anger, love, lust, hate, hope, desire, envy, scorn, pain, pleasure, compassion, rejection

Everything and nothing was contained within that wall, and they'd struck it head on.

Their hearts felt like ice, while their flesh felt like fire. Their minds were being completely shredded from within by the sheer **Chaos **surrounding them. Their mental representations reaching out to one another.

They brushed fingers

* * *

Alma let out a squeak, before dropping to the ground. Her son clutched his head as a pulse of scrambled thoughts ripped through his mind…

But it was the little one, Miranda, who had the most surprising reaction. Her eyes snapped open, flaring an unholy red before she launched herself at the nearest person…

Kidd was bowled over by the child, struggling to pry the now deranged girl's hands away from her throat. A massive haze of power had ripped into place around the snarling child.

Schala gasped as she tapped into the concept of time itself.

"My gods…"

There was a flash of flame, and the child gave a small yelp as she was blasted backward from the sudden displacement of air, before righting herself and landing on her hands and knees, growling louder.

Kidd coughed, both from nearly being strangled to death by an eight-year-old, and also the lack of air created by her own flames. A high pitched scream from the child was her only warning, before she rolled to the side, narrowly evading a massive slab of concrete grabbed from the web and hurled at her. She flung her hand out, a burst of flame appearing around her, but it was canceled out by a second burst, from the child herself.

She vanished, before Kidd felt an unimaginable pain on her head. Miranda had grabbed hold of the girl's hair, pulling with all her might, while at the same time keeping a foot on Kidd's back, as if she were trying to rip the girl's head off.

Lynn sprung into action, ready to knock the child off Kidd's back, only to be smashed in the side by a giant pitch black fist. Sylph just gaped in surprise, as Miranda's hair seemed to flutter, vanishing in a ripple of air.

_She…turned her hair into a fist?! How the fuck did she do that?!_

The black streams returned to the ripple they were spawned from, before Miranda pulled even harder.

She was forced to let go, as a tree went flying towards her. Kidd dropped to the ground, clutching her head, cursing wildly, as Miranda teleported away, re-appearing, growling again.

By commanding the world, Schala was able to dictate that at some point, that particular tree was going flying in that particular direction. Of course, was meant to happen ten years from now, when a wild telepath awoke to his power, but she replaced the "then" with the "now."

Logic doesn't mean shit to time.

Miranda loosed a shrill scream and stomped the ground. Schala vanished just as a massive pitch black foot slammed into the ground from above her, emerging from a ripple of air. The little girl's hair had faded into another ripple, just like before.

Upon reentry, Schala was forced to duck as the very same tree she launched, was set alight, and sent her direction. She looked up, upon hearing a ripping noise, and saw the little girl with arm pulled back, nails appearing to lengthen into sharp claws, before Schala suddenly vanished again, the girl missing, but a giant flaming claw-tipped arm materializing before her, scorching the concrete.

Miranda landed on her hands, whirling herself around, lower half still in the air, before slamming her feet into the ground and propelling herself off the pavement. Vanishing with another tearing noise, she appeared in front of Kidd, but this time the girl was ready. A quick gesture and a pillar of fire burst into being, causing the little girl to roll to the side, where shards of glass slammed into an impromptu barrier.

Displaying skill none of them knew of, she vanished from beneath the barrier, and was about to sink her nails into Kidd's back when she suddenly froze in place.

Schala's hand was glowing faintly, stopping the girl's momentum by further halting the flow of time…but then something happened.

Miranda seemed to vibrate, as did Schala's hand as her eyes widened in shock. A loud scream ripped from the child's mouth, as the air around her _shattered_. Schala hissed as she cradled her hand, a very painful stinging feeling resounding through it. The child had literally _broken _the concept of time for that brief moment.

_That didn't work…alright…let's try…_

Miranda growled at the two, crawling along the ground like a pacing animal ready to pounce. Schala's hand whipped around rapidly, as faint strands of…something…began wrapping around the empty space next to her. Seeing an opening, Miranda struck, ripping again, and appearing with both fists extended out, ready to bash Kidd's head in. Before the elder girl could respond, another form appeared, slamming fists with Miranda.

The form looked like a misty image of the seemingly possessed child. Miranda growled louder, and pulled back. Her hair fluttered up, fanning out before twisting and vanishing in another ripple. What surprised everyone conscious (for Alma herself was out like a light, and her son was fighting off whatever unusual psych-wave was invading his mind), was that the mirror image did the same.

The two girls punched, fists meeting, as ripples opened and a solid black, and a solid white fist met. Enraged beyond belief, Miranda snarled at her clone, and struck again, second fist materializing, and being matched.

The two girls traded fists, hair eternally contained in the mysterious ripple, fists of black and white slamming into each other repeatedly, neither girl giving ground. The sheer psychic force released by the two was causing the ground beneath them to crumble, cracking from each impact as if a large object were being slammed into the ground.

Finally, Schala twisted her wrist clockwise slightly, causing the misty white clone of Miranda to suddenly flicker.

As Miranda herself pulled back for another punch, the clone was already punching, catching the girl by surprise. The punch itself was weak, after all, the clone could only mimic the girl's natural strength, but the follow-up, being the giant white fist made of hair turned solid through psychic will, slammed into the child, sending her rocketing backward with a loud cry of pain.

Before the child form of Alma could react, Sylph had caught her around the waist, closing her own eyes, and focusing on her particular ability.

The girl's emotions were wild. The only feeling she could get was fear, mixed with rage. Confusion was also paramount, as the girl's conscious mind was being held in check by heightened base emotions. She struggled to keep hold of the thrashing and snarling child, as her mental self dived into the girl's subconscious, seeking the light existing within.

Upon finding a small area not touched by the rampaging storm of emotions, Sylph reached out to it, the two minds connecting and rending the storm to nothing. Miranda immediately calmed down, slumping slightly as her conscious mind regained control over her motor functions.

At the same time, Alma slowly stirred, the noise in her son's mind fading as she did. Lynn rubbed her side, before the pain suddenly vanished. Blinking, she looked around, before noticing Schala's hand with a faint glow around it. She tilted her head.

"Replaced the pain you felt now with the state you would be in within a week."

"Isn't that…kinda cheating?"

"Screw the rules, I control the concept of time."

"You can let go now. I'm me again."

Sylph looked at the back of the head of the girl in her arms. "You sure?"

"Yeah. We made a mistake."

"What the hell happened mom?" Alma's son blinked before realizing he _spoke _the words. His hands went to his throat, touching it in shock. "I can talk?"

"Then equals now. It would take too long to explain." Schala interrupted.

"Question still stands." Kidd piped up, rubbing her head.

"We tried to take the backdoor into his head." Miranda started.

"Our tree…he implanted a mental representation of our tree in his mind, to serve as an anchor, a link, to us." Alma continued, slowly standing.

"That…was a bad idea. We went through what looked like a gateway and then…" Miranda said.

"**Chaos.** That's…the only word that can describe what happened after." Alma continued.

Her smaller self nodded. "We tried to combine efforts, to at least get out, but I think our synchronization just triggered another defense."

"I thought I'd dealt with all that…but I guess it was still in me…or maybe, just reawakened." Alma quietly spoke.

"All I could think was **'destroy everything'**.Starting from the first thing I saw, to everything that was around me. But…it didn't fully feel…wrong. It felt…natural. Almost…pleasurable." The younger Alma spoke uncertainly.

"Like…as if by doing so, we were doing what we were meant to do." Alma finished.

Schala nodded. "It makes sense. He's fully united his mind for a cause. What you experienced must have been the sum of the very essence of humanity. The backdoor you tried to use must have brought you to his mind, but because it was completely synchronized with itself, you felt everything at once, and it overrode your consciousnesses. By doing so, the very base instinct to survive must have triggered in the little one, and her knowledge, combined with senses, registered all of us as threats to her."

Kidd nodded, head still slightly tingling. "Makes sense. Zee would do that…from time to time. Every now and then when shit got too much for him, he'd just…drop into this base being…think it's the basis for his inner self, the one he let loose last week."

"The survival instinct within all living beings, magnified a hundred fold." Sylph mused.

"Ok, I have a question now." Lynn said.

"How the _FUCK _did you do that hair thing?!"

Miranda stared in confusion. "Hair…thing?"

"You were turning your hair into shit. Like, fists and claws." Kidd supplied.

"…wait I can _do _that?!" Miranda gaped.

"…you…didn't know?" Sylph stared.

"I…I guess you could put it as I was asleep in the passenger seat. I don't really remember much except emotion." She admitted.

"After we're done, I want to see the memories of that. I…or maybe even Zero might be able to figure out what was going on." Alma said.

"As much as I'd like to continue this train of thought, we still have a mission to complete. If the distortion has caused such a reaction within our strongest psychics, that means even _my _power may not be holding."

"But…your power is **time**!" Lynn yelled.

"True, but with the amount of power he's outputting right now, even the concept of _time _is warped. I may have stopped the flow for this location, but who's to say if _he _is bound by it? And if he is, who's to say how long it will last? He _IS _using his most powerful ability. Plus," She added. "The kid broke it."

* * *

It became determined that the group would head into the building, back down into the depths of the underground facility, and back to where the Almas left Zero. Teleporting was out, due to the unknown level of power surrounding him.

"If we go by foot, we can adjust our mental fields to at least attempt to cancel out his, or at least reduce the effects. If we go straight in, we not only risk having ourselves crushed upon entry, but also whatever nasty thing is going on."

At first, Alma protested her son joining them. Her reasonings that he was still recovering from the ordeal were sound, but refuted by the man himself.

"Don't worry, I was _made _for crazy stuff like this, remember? Plus, Schala worked her magic. I feel like a million bucks right now."

Alma sighed and nodded. "You'd really like Zero…you and he seem to act the same…Fine, just keep your senses up alright? You haven't been in an actual fight for a couple years, and none of us know how you work. It's gonna take a bit getting used to."

He nodded. "Just…ahh here we go." _Atten-SHUN!_ Suddenly, all the replicas nearby stood ramrod straight up. They all turned in unison to him.

"Our orders, sir?"

"We're heading back into the facility. Our goal is to reach where I was being held, as quickly as possible. Information should be popping up now about what we're dealing with. Your mission is to keep our exit safe, and if anything happens, to compromise it, let me know. Uhh, also, if someone could spare a gun or two I'd be grateful."

As one of the replicas dashed off to grab a few guns from a nearby supply room, the ranking officer sought more information.

"Hostiles sir?"

"Contact me before engaging. What we might consider hostiles may actually not be. We're talking some weird shit might pop up, friendly and non, so double check first."

"Understood sir."

"Commander! Your weapons!" The replica brought back two others, each carrying a set of firearms. Alma's son grabbed a pair of pistols, checking them over to make sure they'd work properly, grabbed a few first aid kits, and an assortment of grenades as well.

"Good work soldier. Company, Dismissed!"

They all saluted, and proceeded to fulfil their directives. He turned back to the group. "Best thing that came out of all that crap. MAN that's fun. I'm used to doing the wetwork, so being able to order others around is an interesting change."

Schala nodded. "Good idea. We don't know how much things will change while we're in there, so having a security network is definitely helpful."

He nodded. "The elite's will relay my commands to the others. Not sure how far my range goes, but the links are up, so if shit goes down, unless something really weird happens, I'll know."

They were standing at the lift that led to the facility itself. It shuddered, and suddenly ripped off its hinges and was thrown to the side by Alma. It shuddered more, before collapsing in on itself, filling the area with a loud crunching as it was crushed into little more than a metal ball.

"…mom?"

"Stupid thing is slow as shit." She growled.

"Plus, we don't know if something will happen to it on the way back, or while we're heading there. Less problems the better." Miranda clarified.

"We'll get him back mom." He put his hand on her shoulder.

"He always wanted a family…a real family…I promised him we could start one. We could _be _one. I can't lose him. Not now…" Her hands were shaking, before Miranda grabbed one gently, as Lynn grabbed another.

"It'll all work out. You'll see."

* * *

They ran.

Replica soldiers crossed their paths, and gave a salute, some trailing behind or at their sides, from a distance, to cover their backs. Swiftly, the group moved from section to section, sliding down ladders, vaulting over crates and tables, all to reach their destination.

The facility was made extremely similar to the Origin facility, Alma's son mused. _Less things to shoot though. But I am surprised, these kids are keeping up with mom and I. That Zero guy must have put them through their paces._

A buzzing in his head distracted him from his musings. A twinge of headache, the result of a psychic link being activated.

"Guys hold up." He called. Alma whirled around as the others skidded to a stop, halting their momentum suddenly, forcing them to recover their balance.

"I got a message."

"_Commander! We have a problem!"_

_Report._

"_Some sort of force field is blocking squad gamma's approach to your position. Roughly one-hundred-twenty seconds after you passed through, a distortion in the air formed, and this…glyph of sorts, an odd symbol made of multiple triangles formed. It's barring our path, and no weaponry has managed to break through it."_

_That's not good. Have you tried un-conventional means?_

"_Some in Gamma Squad began attempting to unlock it through psychomancy, but all they received for their troubles was a large headache."_

_Alright, looks like we're on our own then. Tell your men to be ready. Have squads Sigma and Theta go and scout the other entrances and exits. I want teams of no less than two, three if possible covering every possibility. Alpha Leader, you have command of the field. If what I think is going on is going on, we may be experiencing interference._

"_Of the mental waves sir?"_

_The man we're trying to rescue, I hear has access to power near that of my Mother. And she was able to even cancel out radio waves with her skill. Use your best judgment, and if something comes up and starts attacking, you have full permission to go weapons free._

"_Understood. Alpha Command out."_

"Damn…"

"What is it?" Alma asked.

"I think he knows we're here. I just got a report saying that there's a barrier somewhere behind us."

"Did you get what it looked like?" Miranda asked, still fascinated by the connection between her son, and his soldiers.

"Said it was a transparent distortion, but with one big symbol in the center. Something about a lot of triangles."

"…oh shit." Kidd spoke.

"What?" He asked.

Schala's eyes narrowed, as she glared at the far wall. "It means we're under his terms now. Either we've penetrated far enough for us to have reached his sphere of influence, or his field has expanded enough that he's covered up to where we were. That symbol, is the crest of Chaos, and if that is present, that means he, or someone of his clan, is in control of this area. Come, we cannot waste any more time. We must press on, and be ready for anything."

* * *

"This is it! That big door over there leads to the depths!"

Much like the Origin facility, a gigantic metal door looking similar to a robot's maw was before them. The gaping maw was open, and the group raced along to the bridge…when Kidd suddenly dropped to her knees, crying out in pain.

They all stopped, as she shuddered and looked ahead, eyes glazed over. Schala was the first to turn, her dark violet locks almost smacking herself in the face, as she gasped at what was before them.

A little girl with raven hair, clad in a black spaghetti strap dress, wearing black sandals stood at the far end of the bridge. Miranda's head tilted slightly, as she tried to recall where she saw the girl before. But it would be her older self who made clear who she was.

"…Mi…Mikoto?"

The girl just stared at the group. And then she and Kidd spoke in unison.

"**Don't interfere."**

Suddenly the words surrounded them, as faint voices spoke the words as well.

"**Don't interfere."**

**"Don't-**

"**DO NOT INTERFERE!"**

**"**_**Don't Interfere…"**_

_**Don't interfere.**_

Kidd snapped back to normal.

"I…have a bad feeling about this."

The little girl vanished. Seconds later, there was a sound of shattering glass, and suddenly the doorway before them was blocked by a glowing white symbol. Immediately they looked behind, to see the same thing blocking their exit.

Suddenly, from both sides of the depths beneath the bridge, twin massive pillars of crimson liquid shot into the air.

"Oh…this is gonna suck…"

* * *

After a series of exhausting fights against horribly deformed _creatures_ simply referred to by Kidd as "ADR's" , they finally made it down the lift to the heart of the facility. Before them, was the sphere that Alma's son was once entrapped in, surrounded by a heavy distortion…and once again, the little girl was present.

"I had a feeling you'd push through. And looking no worse for the wear, no less." She spoke.

"Mikoto! Please, we just want to-

"Daddy has an idea of what you're here to do. You're here to stop him."

"What? Wait that's-" But Alma was cut off before she could finish.

"That's why I'm here. To stop you from going any further. It's a good thing he's managed to warp reality so heavily here, or else you might have succeeded, and doomed us all."

Suddenly, the ground beneath them began to rumble. A heavy haze was surrounding the little girl, hair beginning to wave in an intangible wind as she spoke.

"But he has kept me from the unison, I am his final defense, and I will not allow anyone to get in the way of my Daddy."

"We don't want to-

She would hear none of it.

"It doesn't matter what you want. You are a threat to him. And all threats must be removed." The haze grew heavier. It began swirling off her body and enveloping the very air around them.

"This is his home, these are his people, and you seek to stop him from protecting them, as he would you. Foolish mortals, you stand before a god, and you deny him his wish. But fear not…I am his Goddess, and I shall enforce his Desire…regardless of yours."

The haze was now so heavy, nothing around them could be made out properly. A filter seemed to be over the world, blocking anything that wasn't them, or Mikoto, from accurate depiction.

And then she spoke. She spoke the words echoed and translated by Nicole that would begin the end.

"**Rrha ki ra dople manaf yor.**

**Rrha ki ra dople dsier yor.**

**Rrha ki erra chs hymmnos mea sos infel."**

"_In this focused trance, I reject your existence. In this focused trance I reject your desire. In this endless concentration, I become a song for the sake of love."_

(BGM: Bayonetta – The Greatest Jubilee)

The haze became a solid wall, which then shattered, revealing that they were all now within a gigantic sphere of grey. An endless void of nothingess…and before them, Mikoto changed.

The little girl had grown up. While not a fully grown woman, she was close. Long black hair streaked with strands of grey flowed like twin rivers of night. Long streams of violet symbols covered her naked body, the runes pulsing faintly, like a heartbeat. Shafts of light emitted from her back, taking the form of shimmering multi-colored wings, gently flapping as their illumination created a rainbow colored glow around the girl.

Her body seemed to be encased in a faint glow of white, but to others, it appeared as if her body itself were glowing as well, within the shimmering prisim orb like appearance. She floated there, eyes closed for a few moments, before she opened them. From afar it was as if staring at a car's headlights, the glow being so powerful.

Before their eyes, words seemed to form in the sky, their golden glow solidifying the girl's heavenly appearance.

**Tower Guardians**

**Child of Light**

**Mikoto**

"Oh…fuck me…" Schala suddenly blurted out.

"Uhh…what does that mean?" Alma's son asked. "And how the hell did she do that? And does anyone _else _hear that music?"

Schala would be unable to answer, for the girl was suddenly grasped by the neck, held up by Mikoto.

"The dead…"

Before anyone could move, a crimson ring of light appeared around the girl's wrist.

"…should remain that way."

Seconds later, Schala's eyes widened in horror as her body was immediately reduced to glowing particles of light, by the multitude of streams of color that ripped through and out of her body. As Mikoto's arm dropped back to her side, a ball of flame appeared in Miranda's hand. The child drew her arm back, only for Mikoto to barely glance in her direction. That instant, the sphere detonated, sending Miranda backwards, and being the first _true _attack of the battle.

Taking the chance, Alma's son began to fire at the girl. She completely ignored his assault however, considering that the bullets just bounced off of the transparent sphere around her body. She slashed her arm, and he was knocked aside as Alma herself crashed into him, just before her back ripped open in a spray of blood, caused by Mikoto's intent.

Alma hissed at the pain, but pushed past it as her body regenerated the damage. Mikoto's eyes narrowed, and she vanished from view, evading a fireball launched by Kidd.

"What the hell is going on here?" Alma's son inquired. Narrowly rolling out of the way of a massive black heeled foot dropping from a distortion above her, Kidd answered.

"She's set up a **Reality Marble**! Everything in this enclosed space is under her jurisdiction! She literally is **God **here! This is a conceptual plane she created herself, and as such she has full control over what goes on!"

Mikoto appeared above them, scowling.

"You know too much."

Her eyes glowed, and Kidd screamed out in pain as her mind was forcibly pried open by the now elder girl's mental assault. Barrier blocking any sort of retaliation from the others, Mikoto nodded to herself, dropping her assault.

"You are connected to our Tower. You know what he knows. I understand."

She rose her arm. The world seemed to distort for a moment…but otherwise nothing happened.

"Oh shit…oh shit oh shit oh shit…" Kidd chanted, clutching her head.

"What?!" Lynn cried. "What did she do?"

"She _cut my connection to him!_ I can't feel him anymore!" was the response, before she was sent flying back by a sudden distortion of air crashing into her body.

Alma lashed out with a blast of psychic will, but it merely washed over Mikoto's transparent defensive field. A flick of her wrist, and Alma toppled over, crying out in pain as her left leg was suddenly broken. She appeared in front of Kidd, as the younger girl started to get up, a silver dagger appearing in Mikoto's hand. The Goddess Child pulled her arm back, ready to cut straight through the girl's neck, when Miranda quickly touched Kidd's leg, and the two teleported out of the way.

Mikoto made a soft humming noise. But otherwise simply batted away another ball of flame, launched by the now recovered Alma. Growing irritated with the constant assaluts, Mikoto grasped the flame before it vanished, corrupting it with her will. The bright orange flame turned pitch black, as the girl flicked her wrist, and it formed into a stream. The stream coiled like a snake, then lashed out and wrapped around Alma's wrist. Alma cried out in agony as the flames seared into her skin, before she gave a small yelp as she was yanked into the air.

Mikoto spun around on her heel twice, before banishing the flame whip, and causing Alma to crash straight into Sylph, who was trying to reduce some of the mental backlash on Kidd. The Goddess Child then rose back into the air, before streching her arms out.

Her body flared with an unnatural light. The void rumbled in response, before it changed. They were surrounded by the image of space, hundreds of points of light being the celestial bodies in the depths of the universe.

And before them was a massive spiral. A mass of countless stars and cosmic rays, gasses and objects swirling around within one glaring light. An unimaginable pressure washed over them, as what appeared to be rays of light rocketing from rifts within the spiral, as the center became unstable.

They closed their eyes, as the light became blinding, three of their number realizing what was occuring.

_I…we…know what this is…_ Were Lynn's thoughts. _She's serious. This isnt a test like getting into his head was…she's really gonna kill us._

_I…don't want to die._

_I don't want it to end here. Not…not even beside my friends._

…_yes…I can call them that now. It…took forever…but I understand what he was talking about. I don't want to die…but I don't want __**them **__to die either…_

_He said…my mental defenses were almost impossible to break through…that I could shape them to match and nullify any form of attack…but…_

_I've never made them __**real**__. I know what's coming, this is the only shot I have. I don't want…to be that jealous bitch anymore…that person who rejected the world just because of a few personal betrayals…_

_I want…to see._

* * *

Noise.

Noise was all they heard. Empty ringing pressure.

The simulation of the creation of the universe…Mikoto's attack; to replicate the level of force that existed when the universe was made…

She blinked in surprise. They werent pulp. They werent _atoms_. They still existed, even after _that._ And then she saw. A faint trail of psychic energy fading from their bodies…beginning from Lynn. Mikoto made another humming noise. The girl had somehow created a field strong enough to reduce the force of Mikoto's **Big Bang**.

Impressive…if ultimately futile.

Everyone groaned as they slowly woke. Miranda's eyes snapped open as she realized what just happened, exactly what it was that was thrown at them. She felt herself, noting that nothing was missing, and she looked up at Mikoto, who was just floating there.

_Wait…why isnt she doing anything?_

A powerful feeling in the depths of Miranda's heart told her **this **was the key. Her instincts screamed at her, that this moment was the answer to everything.

Her eyes narrowed, as she watched Kidd and Alma get back up, stumbling, but determined. Flames wrapped around their wrists, ready to be launched. Mikoto just gestured, and the two were bowled over by a giant pillar of stone that appeared out of nowhere. Miranda watched intently, as the pillar cracked, small fissures appearing upon its surface, before tendrils of powder reached out, wrapping around their feet and slamming them into the 'ground'.

_This is her world…she is God here. Anything she wants to happen can and __**will **__happen. And anything she doesn't, won't._

_But why was she just standing there? If her job is to get rid of us, that was the time to do it._

As bullets bounced off the Goddess' field of protection, Miranda's mind raced over the 'battle'. She didn't see her elder self's son suddenly get twisted around as the bullets he fired were grasped and mutated into a single small metal lance, that ripped through his left shoulder.

Her mind went back, searching for answers. She held on to the image of Mikoto just standing there, and noticed other times when the Goddess did something similar.

_She…didn't attack…anyone who wasn't moving against her…? She didn't __**ever **__strike out against Lynn…she only attacked our son once…her attacks were more focused against Kidd and the older me because they were the ones attacking the most…_

_This isnt a test…but there __**is **__a trick! She didn't attack Sylph until she started trying to reverse the mental damage done to Kidd…which counts as an act against Mikoto herself! And she only attacked me when I attacked her…_

_She reacts…to those who move against her…_

"_All threats must be removed."_

_That's it! She registers us as threats because we move against her will…but…_

_Her will is to keep 'Daddy' safe. Her will is his will…she fights because she fulfils his desire, which is to not be interrupted, to protect the people he cares about, even if it means his end. The gravitational distortion created enough of a rip in reality that she could manifest outside of the depths of his mind, and act as a final guardian to him._

_She fights us because she…no…both of them…believe we intend to stop him. We stand against his desire…_

And then a memory, of a statement once spoken to her, as Zero held her in her mindscape, on one of the meetings where they did nothing more than just lay against her tree, and hold each other as the little girl relished in the notion that someone truly cared.

"_**The only battle that you can never lose…is the battle you don't fight."**_

…_how true…if you're not fighting, if you don't actively choose a side and do battle under its banner…technically, you can't lose it, because __**you **__aren't fighting it. I get it now…I know what has to be done._

Her vision snapped back into focus. Mikoto's arms were adorned with crystals. Alma, Kidd, and the unnamed man were all attacking, Alma and Kidd with flames and he with his remaining pistol. Sylph was helping Lynn aim, for the blonde was still reeling from taking on the power of the Concept of Force itself, as Lynn fired with the unnamed man's other gun.

Miranda knew, she had to act now, or their desire would be wiped out by the invincible Goddess before them.

She closed her eyes and focused.

* * *

She walked through the corridors of their mind. Even though now their existences were separate, at the core, their minds were still connected. Deep within the depths of their connected mentality, were their lingering emotions of rage and hatred, filtered away, so they could live as sound minded beings.

However, from that rage, from that abject hatred towards everything that was happy while they suffered, was a power. A power born of the darkness within people's hearts, the negativity within their thoughts. Zero had taught them a technique that sealed away these thoughts, and allowed them to slowly filter through, calmly, like a soft stream. It was a mental dam, placed around the lake of rage that was the depths of their mind.

And now, she was going to unlock it.

She needed that power, the power born of hate. The power born of undying rage and anguish.

_**Her body became encased within a violent haze.**_

She stood at the representation of the dam, a simple seal in the shape of a jagged red **A**.

_**The light around Mikoto's wrists became almost blinding.**_

She touched it gently…and the A shattered. Tendrils of shadow ripped from the now broken barrier, washing over the girl who simply accepted them into herself.

* * *

A massive pressure washed over everyone present. Before anyone could even contemplate investigating the source of it, a heavy haze washed over those on the 'ground', before they found themselves on their backs, pinned by the sudden force. Mikoto blinked, uncertain as to what just happened. It wasn't by her will that they were bound.

She followed the trails to Miranda, who stood, body covered in haze, hair fluttering under the curtails of her own power. The little girl strolled along the empty spaces between everyone else's bodies, until she was before the Goddess, who had dropped her arms, wondering why she didn't feel any hostile intent from the child before her.

(BGM stop)

"I understand now." Miranda spoke. "We fought our way here. You saw our determination, and our willingness to crush anything standing in our way. You think we're here to stop him…but we're not. You strike at us, because we intend to strike at you, because we believed it was the only way to reach him; to defeat you."

She shook her head, as the pressure on the others started slowly weakening.

"We didn't make our intentions clear…or rather…we made the wrong ones clear. We never wanted to fight you, or anything else you two threw at us…but it didn't seem like that, and I'm sorry we didn't make that obvious. But I am now. We aren't here to **stop **him. We don't want to go against his will, and by proxy, yours. We want to _help _him. We want to _save _him."

Mikoto stared at the girl, who's head was bowed. The Goddess Child vanished in a distortion of air, appearing in front of Miranda. She reached out a hand, as the others began to rise, gently caressing the girl's face, before lifting it up by the child's chin, so their eyes would meet.

"…your words ring true…" It was surprising, the Goddess thought to herself. She understood the underlying notion behind the child's words.

"You seek to become his anchors then. His Pillars, of which to focus his power through. You intend to use yourselves as resonance points, to lessen his burden, so he will not perish in this course of action…"

"Please…we want him to live as much as you do."

"That…I can sense within all…except him. I cannot read you as accurately, and since you do not stand against me any longer, it would be improper of me to force my way inside."

Alma's son nodded. "I owe him my life. And the life of my mother. I can't say I know him at all, but he did me a favor twice over, three times if you count him taking care of her as a separate action. If I can do anything to help the guy who helped me, and my mother, then I'll do it."

Mikoto nodded, still cupping Miranda's chin. "You can let go now child. I shall re-forge your barrier myself."

Miranda stared in surprise. "You think I would not have received every scrap of information about you and your abilities before engaging in combat? Daddy gave me life in this world to protect him from those who sought to stop him, and like him, when I intend to do something, I don't do it in halves."

The little girl nodded, before closing her eyes. For a second, she felt all that rage, all that hatred, begin to wash over her, before it was literally forced back. She felt a wall of power rip through her head, pushing away all the negativity she'd unleashed, before it was re-sealed, with the exact same barrier as before. Miranda sighed, before gently hugging the Goddess, not caring that her face was literally mashed between the elder's bare breasts.

Mikoto just gave a gentle smile. After all, the girl was under her father's protections, therefore helping the girl pleased Mikoto, the same way it would have pleased Zero.

Mikoto stepped back, body enveloped by a shimmering white glow, which spread to the world around them. There was a loud shattering noise, and they found themselves back on the balcony below the metal sphere in which Zero had sealed himself. Mikoto had returned to her original form, that of the little child.

"My Reality Marble only created a battlefield for me to combat you. I was only given power for the sake of defending him from those who stood against us, but since you no longer do, there is no purpose for my power. I will guide you to him, but even should you shut down the systems adding to his power, he's already begun. The undead time-magess' power slowed his, but it is here that he has the most control. Lucky for you, Daddy is too focused on warping reality, so he can't do anything active to stop us. That's why I was brought here, to do what he cannot."

"Lead the way."

* * *

They all struggled against the pressure emitting from the sphere. Even though Alma and her son had shut down the generators adding to his power, it was still immense.

"Logic has no place here! We're so close to the distortion that reality is only what you imagine it to be! You need to position yourselves in a circle around him, and focus every thought on his." The girl yelled over the roar of force within their ears.

"When you feel something latch onto you, don't fight it! Just focus on mirroring what that feeling is sending you! His survival instincts are automatically attuned to latching on to any possible energy sources nearby, so there shouldn't be a connection problem!"

The group had taken a single slab of metal, and all of them directed it to push past the waves of inverted color that were ripping out from between Zero's raised hands. For the first time, they were able to see what his ultimate maneuver, the Division by Zero, looked like.

Between his hands was a pulsing orb of solid black, rays of black streaming around it like a spinning globe of spotlights, only rather than illuminating, they concealed. Rings of pulsing black would occasionally emit from the sphere, as a shell of shadows had encased Zero. His hair had reverted to its white state, turned that way, upon his description, by the amount of stress upon his body and mind from the first time he used this technique.

They had all been positioned around the sphere. They all closed their eyes and reached out with their senses…but nothing was happening.

"It's not working!" Lynn yelled.

It was then that both Miranda and Kidd came to the same conclusion: They couldn't think. To think as themselves, would be to block connection with him. They had to think like he did…

And so…they let themselves go.

The others watched as the two youngest raised their arms at the same time, before everything seemed to be silent for a moment.

As one, the two girls unleashed a single breath…and the world exploded in color.

As the brightness faded, they saw shimmering lights between the girl's palms.

For Kidd, it was a brilliant red, and for Miranda, a radiant silver.

Sylph realized what they did, and did the same thing, letting her sense of self go. Her arms raised as if she were possessed, and a brilliant blue light erupted from between her hands. Alma's son thought about it, and finally came to that conclusion as well.

_Ehh, what the hell, can't hurt right?_

He let himself go, and like with the other three, a light erupted into view, his being a calming golden yellow.

"What did they do?!" Alma yelled over the rushing, eyes slightly narrowed to lessen the brightness of the lights now flaring in her face.

"…they let go." Was her response.

It was the one thing Lynn had always struggled with. Letting go. She clenched her fists, cursing internally that the key to saving Zero, to helping him, was the one task she sucked at immensely.

_Self fulfilling prophecy huh? I only really got hurt by him…because I made it happen…_

She took a deep breath, steeled her raging nerves, ignored her pounding heart, and dived into the darkness of her mind.

Seconds later, a soothing emerald green ripped from her hands.

_Let go…huh? Well…looks like this'll be easier than I thought! Hang on Zero…I wont fail you…_

A blinding white ripped from Alma's hands.

The lights shimmered all as one, surrounding the dome of black. Lines of color, the colors their hands were glowing with, appeared beneath their feet, until they all formed a triangle. A single massive curve ripped into the platform beneath Zero's feet, as a single glowing circle surrounded the massive triangular shape beneath him.

His family crest, his personal creation, the sigil of Chaos had appeared in this area where Reality was only that which its makers desired. The shimmering orbs around him fired rays of color into the orb between his palms. That orb began vibrating dangerously, before it released a single shaft of prismatic light into the air, piercing through layers of stone and metal, until it exploded through the roof of the run-down building that concealed the underground facility.

The remaining replicas scattered in surprise, as the beam ripped into the sky, before a sudden wave of calm washed over them. Their eyes closed as their bodies grew slack, their minds being filled with a brilliant light, as their bodies were turned to atoms. The prismatic shaft turned black, as it spread out into a dome around the building, and the radius of the facility as well.

There was a heavy rumbling, one that could be felt across the city, as people exited buildings, homes, schools, and businesses, calling, hollering and crying out in surprise and shock as the light not only appeared on the horizon, but turned a sickly black. They gasped in fear and awe as it turned into a round shape, before the rumbling began. They called out as the dome seemed to shrink, news copters, police helicopters, and even some of Betters' men, along with the man himself, accompanied by Jin, Becket, and Stokes, flew over the dome site as it shrunk.

People watched on TV's in windows as it became smaller and smaller, until all that was left was a tiny orb floating in the center of a gigantic crater.

And then…the orb exploded.

* * *

**A/N**: Bit of a jump here. I couldn't properly think of an in-between chapter for describing the trainings and getting to where the Dude is. Yes I thought up a name for him, no you wont find out till later.

Another set of WTF, but this time, we're dealing with a conceptual force that can literally remove the existence of "Reality" as a whole. The hair thing Alma pulled off will be explained later, and yes, I got it from Bayonetta. Awesome game that is.

OMG: yeah, like I said, last chapter was filled with batshit. And yes, that was YGO. I literally took my World Championship 2008, created the decks used in the chapter, and wrote down the bare bits of what happened in those duels. I believe I was in control of Spellslinger, and then EXEC PAJA, and then Super Happy Alma. That means I, the human player, _lost _to the AI playing the Absolute Zero deck.

Wasn't too happy about that, but that worked for what I wanted to have happen.

CF: God the new year went by before I updated this huh sis? Didn't realize I was sitting on this for months. Oh well. It's up now, and you get to finally see it!

Have fun!


	8. Reconstruction

She held on.

The black haired little girl held on to the one she loved.

Miranda grasped tightly upon Zero's mental form, the two laying under the internal manifestation of her beloved tree swing. Around them, a small circle of grass and flowers. Everything else was black. They were on a single small island, the only source of light in this dark abyss. She spent hours looking for him, trying to find any trace of his existence. And she found him. His skin was ripped in multiple places, blood flowed freely around his form, spiraling almost like a cage of protection.

She cried out, shook him in attempts to wake him from his slumber. But no avail. She pondered, tears flowing down her cheeks, before realizing what it all meant. She pushed past the streams of crimson, holding on to him tightly, wishing for somewhere safe, somewhere they could recover. And before her eyes, her favored tree formed, untouched, unmarked. She came to understand what that meant. The link between them was the only anchor he had left. While their actions may have kept his body from perishing, his mind was still damaged. She pulled his body to her tree, before laying the two of them down within its roots. From beneath them, a small wall of green emerged, following a patch of yellow.

Hope had returned to him. Followed by Growth. She clutched him tighter, kissing his forehead and whispering encouraging words into his ears. She would not let him go. She would _never _let him go. He was hers, he was _theirs_. And nobody, not even his own will, would take him from them. She loved him too much to let him go so easily. He had too many people who needed, and _wanted _him around.

"I swear to you…" She whispered, winds biting at her flesh, screaming howls of chaotic essence trying to batter her down. But she held strong. "I promise…we will _never _leave your side."

The winds were fierce, the manifestation of the chaos that had now overtaken his mind. The choking blackness around them imposing the feeling of despair, of impossible sorrow. She held on to him, as if to protect him from its grasp. She would wait, and watch. It was her choice, and her desire. She gently rocked back and forth, using the winds as a tool, as a plaything, her arms wrapped around his torso as the two lay in between the roots of her favorite tree. She knew not the concept of time here, for time mattered to nobody. They were the only two occupants of this space, the sole land of order, within the chaos.

And it was this, that brought her to understand that even his closest and most powerful guardian, the Child of Light created for the sole purpose of keeping his mind safe under _any _circumstance, was swallowed by this chaos as well. Flashes of memory would blink before her eyes, scents, sensations, thoughts, textures, all manner of sensory would suddenly strike her.

But she knew what it meant. He was recovering. His mind was trying to rebuild. These feelings, these visions, were his memories. And she was going to be with him through them all. But she would have it no other way, for she loved him dearly.

"That's right…don't give up. Come back to us…to me…my darling."

Streaks of grey tore through the blackness, like a vortex of sudden color. The winds grew harsher, almost as if angry. They threatened to uproot the tree, its bare limbs swaying and bending under the forces presented to it. But it held, just like her will. She would never let anything take him away from her, even the power of his own defenses. He needed her _here_. Just like **she **needed him _there_. While they shared a mind, it was Miranda who saw exactly how her other self was constructed. It was Miranda who saw the inner workings of the human psyche. As such, while Alma was his love, it was Miranda, who would be the one to bring him back.

For she understood what it was like, to be trapped in your own mind, a separate consciousness from everything else. She understood the feeling of being trapped in darkness, while your broken memories tried to fix themselves, while your senses attempted to re-align. It was hell. And there was no way she would let him suffer through that alone.

It was one thing…to lock oneself in, and hide away, allowing your defenses to deal with any intruders. It was another, to be stuck inside, only knowing pain, while the world around you crumbled away. The injuries he bore in this mental plane represented the damage done to his mind, the blood, the loss of memory, of connection to the physical world. Even though, she was technically now her own person, she was still "Alma". While Miranda was given the chance to now live the childhood Alma never could, she still had the memories and mind of the adult that desired Zero as the father of her children. As such, while she was in the form of a child, she still felt the same love her older self did towards him, the same devotion and care, only magnified, for it was the self known as _Miranda _that Zero initially connected with.

She gently began humming. Humming the tune of the song she sang, to summon him back from the depths of his mind and into the realm of the living once again. The song that brought her, her older self, his created 'daughter', and he, all together in one location, even if for a brief moment.

"You have to teach us more, ok? When you wake up. It really _is _a beautiful language. And think about it. If you guys send me to school, if there's ever a talent show, rather than setting something on fire or making stuff fly around, I can just sing, right? I can sing a song that practically nobody has heard. That'd make me a shoo-in for victory, right?"

She noticed a small spark of light around the edges of their 'island'. The grass seemed to stretch farther. She smiled to herself. _Then all I have to do, is keep talking. Well, I've got no problem with that._

"My name, is Miranda 'Alma' Wade. I'm about ten years old, and my favorite color is blue…"

**F.E.A.R. Resonance Reaction**

**Interval 07**

**Reconstruction**

"Has there been any change?"

Kiera Stokes, Michael Becket, Rodney Betters and Jin Sun-Kwon entered the home of Zero Shinzaki. Alma's son, now going by the name of Alexander, had let them in. He, Alma and Miranda, had been staying at the house for the past week. The three girls, Kidd, Sylph and Lynn had all taken up residence there as well. The three girls split one room, while Alma and Alexander shared another. Leaving Zero with the last. Miranda had taken to sitting in Zero's room, never leaving his side. Alma kept her senses open, waiting for the moment Zero re-connected with her, but otherwise visited his room every now and then, trusting her younger self to alert her should anything change.

He shook his head. "No. A couple days ago Miranda said she was going to try something, but we haven't seen her since, and last time we tried to get in, the door was…warded somehow. She must have put up a psychic field to block people from getting inside." Jin touched his arm gently, before gathering her courage and pulling him into a soft hug.

"I'm sorry." He shook his head again. "It's alright. We're all just a bit worried though. None of us know what's going on, and…well, Mom's just been keeping busy. Kidd's been helping her refine her flame-throwing, while Lynn helps her with her defenses. Sylph's been teaching me a bit more about empathy too."

"He's a tough kid. He'll pull through." Betters commented, as they entered the dining room.

"Wow, I wasn't expecting you all to show up today." Alma spoke from her place at the stove in the kitchen visible through an unbarred doorway. She flashed them a tired smile, but it was genuine. "It's a good thing I paid attention when Zero told me to always cook for more than we have."

"Quina Quen. Final Fantasy IX. Freaky as all get-out, but he was a heaps crazy chef. Big bro took his line to heart, and it hasn't failed him since." Kidd spoke from the table.

"Have a seat guys, food's already there, I'm just finishing up this last batch of pancakes. Before I sit down myself." Alma said.

"I didn't know you could cook." Becket quipped. "I learned from Zero. He taught me how, along with a few other things. Said it'd be good to learn just in case." She replied, setting down another stack of pancakes before taking off her apron and flinging it towards a nearby hook. Absently her psychic field latched onto it, and guided it gently to its resting place.

"Y'know." Kidd looked up from her plate, a random thought running through her mind as she looked at Alma's son.

"I've had this real funny feelin in the back of my head since I met you. Like I'd seen ya before somewhere. And now that I think about it, ya kinda look like that ol' Sirius Black from the Harry Potter books."

Lynn snorted heavily, coughing slightly as some of her food went down the wrong pipe at Kidd's admission. "Actually." She said, after taking a drink of orange juice. "I kinda had the same thought."

Alexander just squinted his eyes at them. Though he did sigh in submission. "I suppose there _is _a bit of likeness." Considering his shaggy black hair hung down to the middle of his neck, and his beard had grown rather fully, he wasn't surprised. A sudden pulse gently echoed through his mind.

"Eh? What's wrong mom?"

Alma blinked. "What? Oh…nothing. I was just thinking that…I haven't been part of a setup like this since before father threw me in the vault is all. It's rather…nice." She admitted with a soft smile.

"**Well then, perhaps you should grow accustomed to it from now on, Mother."**

Everyone froze. Alexander stopped with a slab of pancake on the way to his mouth.

"…I know that voice."

"**I should hope so, brother. After all, it **_**was **_**one of the last you heard before your capture."**

A black haze began surrounding Alexander Wade, who looked down at his hands as a ghostly form began rising from his body. A second, transparent head began growing from his.

"**Although I must admit. Latching my consciousness upon yours, in hindsight, wasn't my most intelligent of ideas."**

* * *

The memories had sped up. Soon, even Mikoto had joined her in watching them. Now, they had reached the moment when their group was entering the hidden facility in order to save Alma's son. They saw through his eyes, feeling his emotions, hearing his thoughts…

It was an unusual experience for the Child of Light, considering she usually just got information.

"I remember this part. Zero _pulled_ a door out from in front of us, and used it as a makeshift buzzsaw."

They watched as the world seemed to shudder around him, a faint ghostly grey tendril lancing out from his hand. They watched the tendril split at its end, becoming eight, which all seeped into the gap between the door and its frame, before in the blink of an eye, the door was covered in grey. The original tendril still remained, only now it looked as if it were connecting the door, and Zero's hand. Zero clenched his fist, before pulling back his arm, which yanked the door from its supports.

"Oh…so _that's_ how he imagines it…" Miranda muttered to herself. "I always _did _wonder what his method was…corrode an object with your will, then manipulate it as if it were another part of your body…damn. I'm gonna have to try that out. Definitely makes moving stuff around a lot faster…"

They watched how twitchy Alma was, how Zero had wrapped his hands around her waist and held her from behind while they descended the extremely slow lift into the depths of the facility. They felt the love and guilt he had towards her, guilt because he knew what he had to do, after they got Alexander out of there.

"So he knew before we even got there…I thought maybe…he'd found out on the way or something, or at that moment…"

"No…Daddy knew since before you even entered the run-down apartment complex that served as the false front."

"Damn…I wish…there was something I could have done. But…no. Now, I have to focus on what's happening here. We'll get him back, I promise."

* * *

The form of Paxton Fettel rose from his brother's body, before sliding backwards to fully manifest behind Alma. Surprising everyone, he gave her a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

"**It is good to see you smiling, Mother."**

"I…you're…" She was speechless.

"_Bloody Hell!_ You've had that bloke in your head this entire time?!" Kidd blurted.

"I…I didn't. Wait…what the hell is going on here?"

"**It is quite simple, Brother. The close proximity to Mother's power, along with my own, were too much to allow my consciousness to die as quickly as most others' do. I was able to remain in between life and death, until you and Mother connected. Upon that connection, I slipped through the cracks in your subconscious defenses, for while our connection as brothers allowed me a semblance of access to your mind, full access was denied to me until that moment. As long as Mother was blocked, so forever should I be.**

**And then you two linked. And upon that moment, I fled to the recesses of your mind, Brother, hiding myself within the depths of your consciousness. I didn't realize that your mind would…recover, so to speak. I was trapped within, with no method of escape. I am unafraid to admit I spent many a day banging my head against a constructed wall, cursing my own stupidity. And laughing at myself. Looking at it from an outside view, it **_**was **_**rather humorous."**

"And now you're free."

"**In a sense. Without a body, I will eventually fade, like all spirits do. But for a moment, the door on my cage was opened, and I was allowed a brief moment to escape. And escape I did. And I'm quite glad too. It was well worth the boredom and solitude, to finally see Mother's smile."**

"I…" Alma began, just staring at her second son.

"**There is no need to apologize, Mother. Our minds were linked. I saw everything they did to you. I was, and am, more than happy to be your vessel of revenge. I only lament that I was unable to succeed in setting you free myself. But, considering Grandfather and Brother here did that for you-**

"N-no. They…all they did was let out the monster I'd become. It was…Zero…who set me free…"

He tilted his head. **"I must apologize. Being contained within the depths of his mind meant I didn't learn anything new. That name is…unfamiliar to me."**

"He's her boyfriend, and if I'm right, which I am, she wants him to be her husbuurrrff." As Kidd was going to say the 'h word', Alma panicked and a pancake flew up from the plate of them in the center of the table and stuffed itself in her mouth. Kidd just blinked, realizing that was the most ridiculous, and unexpected way she _ever _thought she'd be silenced.

"**Boyfriend?" **He queried, before chuckling. **"Well, it seems Mother wastes no time."** Alma simply blushed.

"Do you mind if I check on him?" Jin suddenly asked. "I spent some time in the medical field, I might be able to-

Alma waved her off. "If the door opens, go ahead." Jin looked confused. "Why wouldn't it open?"

"Last time we tried, it was blocked by Miranda's psychic field. We haven't tried since." Sylph admitted. Jin nodded, and rose from the table.

"Second floor, first door on the left. Got a big ol' Hazard sign on it." Kidd spoke. Jin waved her thanks and went up the stairs.

"So." Kidd started, staring at Fettel. "What the bloody hell are you?" Lynn slapped her arm but didn't say anything.

"**A spirit? An echo, perhaps. Even I am unsure."**

"Well, you're not one of those damn phantoms, that's for sure." Alexander said.

"Or those bloody ghost echo soldier…things…" Becket supplied. "Fuck if I know what they were, they were annoying, loud, and creepy as all hell."

Alma just bowed her head silently, knowing it was her power that summoned them.

"Ghost…echo soldier thing?" Alexander turned to his accomplice.

"White like a ghost, obviously an echo of a memory of a soldier or something, and…things. Best way I can describe them dude, they had glowy eyes and poofed like smoke whenever I shot one. But they could wall hax like nobody's business."

Alexander put a hand under his chin, in contemplation. "Replica echoes?"

"Maybe, but they came from like, everywhere. Even normal soldiers. They were usually around wherever Alma was, but whenever she got pissed they vanished." Becket supplied.

"**Perhaps, they were drawn to her psychic field, and manifested through Mother's power. But when that power grew too great at any given time, their consciousnesses dispersed."**

"I like that theory." Becket agreed.

Alexander was going to continue the conversation, when Jin returned, looking a combination of confused, disgusted and overall interested. She stood there for a few minutes, before finally speaking.

"…why are they naked in the same bed with Miranda on top of him?"

It took a few seconds for that question to sink in.

"WHAT?!" was the collective response.

"_Because…" _came a shaky, difficult to hear voice. A shimmer appeared floating over the table.

"_forging a connection as deep down as this is, requires a hefty amount of skin to skin contact."_ Miranda's ghostly form, wearing red pajamas appeared.

* * *

"So tell me again, why we're heading back up here?" A group of three teenagers were in a single car, driving up the small mountain that led to Zero Shinzaki's home.

The speaker was a lightly tanned young man with dark dyed blue hair, slicked up into spikes. He wore a dark blue basketball jersey with the name 'Edwards' stitched on it in gold letters.

"Because something's wrong with Sensei, and we were pretty much dicks for leaving him like that, when Schala died." Spoke a female voice, the driver. She had long dyed bubblegum pink hair tied into a ponytail. Her green eyes gently swept along the road, remembering everything being as it was when they left. She wore a red tank-top and blue denim jeans.

"And when Claris says we go, we go. After all, other than the first three, we _are _Sensei's best students. And honorary Knights at that." Said the final teen. An Asian boy wearing a black trench-coat, black jeans and black t-shirt under the coat. His glasses were tinted, as his bobbed hair swept backward in the winds.

"If you wanna get out, you can Elliot." Claris bit out at him.

"Easy Clair, I'm not saying I wanna go. I'm just a bit…nervous is all." He spoke softly, almost unheard over the sound of their jeep's engine, and the gravel being crunched beneath its wheels.

"We all are, El. We all are." Claris muttered back as they pulled into the driveway.

"That's…not something sensei would drive." Elliot mused upon seeing the multiple cars parked next to the house.

"Doesn't matter. Come on. He's inside." Claris said, climbing out of the jeep and briskly walking towards the front door.

"We gonna-

The door flew open from Claris' waved hand.

"Guess not." Elliot said. As the three stepped into the foyer, Claris immediately slashed an arm to the side, a shimmer of air appearing before them as a ball of flame impacted upon the suddenly created barrier. Fettel's form appeared before them, covered in a blood red haze. Claris thrust out both her hands, before spreading her arms wide. A flare of light in the shape of a cross engulfed Fettel, causing him to howl in pain as his spectral form was burnt horribly. He flew backward, Alma appearing and flinging another fireball, which was blocked by another barrier.

Elliot flicked his hand out to the side, covered in a misty white haze, the air around his hand cooling, gathering moisture from the lake, freezing it into an icicle which he sent flying at the woman. It was blocked by a barrier appearing on _her _end. The black wearing teen reached behind him, drawing two firearms, holding them out as Elliot's hands became covered in the mist again, with Claris holding two flickering spheres of light.

Alexander had come up behind his mother, guns drawn, as did Betters, Becket and Stokes.

"WAIT!" Kidd yelled. Both sides stopped as she pushed past Alexander.

"Bloody hell, Claris? What in the shit are you doing here?!" She exclaimed, turning around and seeing the group.

"We're here to see Sensei. Who are these people?"

"Well, the black haired gal behind me is big Bro's girlfriend." Immediately the spheres of light faded. "G-girlfriend?"

"oooh that's…gotta hurt." Elliot muttered, before buckling over from an elbow to the stomach, courtesy of a red faced Claris. Kidd simply laughed. "You never did get over that crush on him did you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Claris said, keeping as much dignity as she could. She turned to the trench coat wearing boy. "Well, you heard her. Guns down Kouji."

He nodded, before making an obvious show of putting his weapons away. Slowly, the others lowered their own weapons.

"_What the hell is going on out here?!"_ Miranda's form floated through the wall next to them. Immediately, Claris' right hand flared with light again, her instincts telling her to excise the spirit in her sights. Miranda didn't like the glow, however, and made a clenching motion with her own hand. Immediately the glow faded as Claris dropped to her knees, unimaginable pressure overcoming her body. Elliot and Kouji were about to react, when they dropped as well.

Alma blinked, realizing she wasn't sensing any psychic energy being put forth. "Mir! How are you using Zero's powers?!" She immediately whirled to her younger self.

"_I'm the only fucking thing keeping his head together. Of __**course **__I've got access to his Well. Now who the hell are they and why did I __**not **__like that light in her hands?!"_

"Easy Mir, they're Students."

"…_fine…but that girl better keep that light to herself. I don't like it, and I don't know why."_

As the pressure on them faded, Claris explained. "It's because it's my power. On top of telepathy, I can channel the very essence of purification. It's extremely powerful against spirits and wandering ghosts."

"**That would explain why it burned so badly. I must say, that was quite painful."**

"Are you-

Alma began. But Fettel waved her off. **"This form cannot be damaged by normal means. However, it **_**did **_**shorten my time here. I should probably avoid confrontation if I wish to remain**."

"S-sorry. It tends to react on its own to the presence of an unknown spirit."

"We're the ones that should apologize. Miranda felt someone approaching, and when the door just opened suddenly…"

Claris made a waving motion. "It's alright. I…used to get just as protective as Sensei."

Elliot snorted. "Used to? Considering you were ready to take on his girlfriend without even knowing who she is, I'd say you still are." Claris just flushed again.

"_Look, I don't have much time out here, just pull them into the bloody living room so I can explain crap. I don't like not focusing on him."_

Miranda snapped before flying back through the wall.

* * *

"Ok, what's going on here? I got a very bad feeling that something was wrong with Sensei, and all of you are here?"

"_It's a long story. They'll fill you in after. In short, he tried to use the same power he did when Schala died, again."_

"Oh…oh god." Claris muttered.

"_Yeah. The seven of us took on an aspect of his mentality in order to gain the right to try to lessen the burden. But even with us all helping him, it was still a heavy strain on his mind. He's currently unconscious, with me trying to help piece everything back together."_

"**How bad was he, little one?"**

Miranda sighed. _"When I got there…all that was in there was him, a black abyss, and howling winds."_

Silence met that statement. "W-what does that mean?" Becket asked.

"…almost complete destruction."

"_And blood."_

"_blood_?!" Kidd yelped.

Miranda nodded. _"It floated around him like a cocoon. But…when I touched him…_" She looked to Alma. _"Our tree appeared. It seems to be the only thing that survived the destruction. So far, I've managed to help him rebuild a bit…but there's still not much in here. We've got the Blue Palace up though. So that means he can think again. Ever since that popped up, it's been going a lot faster. If I can get the Green and Silver ones up and running, I might be able to get him coherent within the next couple hours."_

"What should we do?"

"_Just stick around for a bit I guess. And before you strip and come join us, other me…" _Miranda began, knowing exactly what the now flushing Alma was thinking. _"He's…not fine, but he'll be ok. The wounds have healed, and we've got a nice little river not too far from the tree. It'll be just a bit longer…and I might be able to re-forge Chaos for him. Once that happens, the process will speed up._"

"…you don't need my help?" Alma asked.

"_You've gotta remember, you and him may be really close, but __**I **__was the first one to connect with him. The link is mostly tied to __**me**__. I can handle this. He did similar things for me…it's my turn to do the same for him."_

"Let me get this straight." Kouji said. "You have to _rebuild _Sensei's mind?"

"_Basically. The fact that it was __**him **__floating there and not just a spark, but actually him, means everything is still there. Just not where it's supposed to be. We, that is to say, Alma and I, have been inside his Garden before. I've seen his Tower. I just need to get enough to get Mikoto back, then everything will be perfectly fine."_

Alma nodded. "You're fading."

"_I'm not surprised. I really need to focus on him again anyway. With all of you here, there's plenty of mental assistance when he starts back up, which is good. Anyway, I have to go. I want to get him back to normal as soon as possible."_ She flickered and faded, like a bad hologram.

"…_Other me_?" Claris asked.

"Miranda is…the child I never got to be."

"…I'm gonna need a bit more than that." Kidd got up and pulled Claris' arm. "Info dump." She said. Claris blinked then nodded. The two touched foreheads, as a slight haze appeared around them. It lasted for a few moments, Claris wincing from something, before it stopped. Her eyes snapped open, glazing over for a moment as her brain processed everything.

"H-holy hell…" She looked at Alma. "You can _match _him?"

"Maybe even beat."

"Damn…ok…I think I get it now."

"mind telling us then?"

"I'll dump you two later, ok?" Kouji frowned, but the two nodded.

"Zero…back before I was freed from the Vault, Zero apparently answered my silent Psychic call. He met me inside my dreams, talking with me and generally being my first ever friend. He then…freed me, or at least a part of me, from all of my hatred and anger. After that, upon trying to find my son," she gestured to Alexander. "he had to forcefully suspend his mind in order to keep from killing me…because I kinda almost killed him when I first met him. I didn't know who he was, only that I was in a strange place and some guy had just walked in the room.

His survival instincts classified me as a threat, and it wasn't until the liberated part of my mind stepped in, did he stop, but it almost cost him _his _mind. We went in and brought him back, but not before apparently scaring his subconscious survival instincts to the point where it started up a massive reality bending gravity well. We managed to convince that part of him our sincerity and the destruction aspect changed to a warp, and my two thought-lines, myself, and the younger me, were separated into two fully functioning bodies. He named my younger self 'Miranda' and we went off to save my son. Apparently, someone was going to detonate the facility's nuclear reactor, and Zero tapped that gravity well again to stop it."

"Which happened…"

"A week ago."

"Right when you got that weird feeling Clair." Elliot said.

"Yes…that's around the same time I got the sense that something was wrong with Sensei."

* * *

An hour had passed. The three factions exchanged informative stories about one another. Claris' group explained how after Schala died, a rift formed between the factions, and they chose to move away. Claris herself mentioned she was cursing herself constantly for leaving Zero like that, but being so confused and uncertain, he told her the best thing she could do was pick a path and stick with it.

She was going to continue, to try to explain her thoughts, when she just stopped mid-word, before staring blankly, straight ahead.

"…uhh…Clair?" Elliot swiped his hand in front of her face.

"…dople oz manaf…" She spoke quietly.

"What?!" Kouji immediately sat up.

"…was yea ra ini shefra mea…"

"Uhh what's she saying?" Alexander blinked and asked.

"It's hymmnos…but…I don't know what it means…" Alma spoke, worried.

"…exec quen tonelico…"

The Knights and Alma turned to Kidd, who blinked. "What?"

"Well? What's she saying?"

"uhh…well…" She thought for a moment.

"she started off with 'rejection of existence'…then…'I will initialize the creation of my world'… 'execute birth of the divine tree'…I don't really get _why _she's saying all this though…"

"I…" Claris began to speak, slowly rising. Her voice waivered, as if she was fighting to get the words out. "…I…was his…songstress…before…Schala…" Her eyes completely glazed over, her body standing rigid.

"**Exec drone en ini layy ciel."**

A sudden haze ripped out of her body, surrounding Claris. Her hair fluttered, before releasing itself from the small ribbon that kept it in a ponytail. The haze seemed to seep into the ground around her, before even the walls were covered. It grew stronger, and heavier, and even Alma's attempts to undo whatever was happening wasn't working. Claris spread open her arms, as if readying to embrace someone. As she did, the haze mutated into a black void, one that swallowed the entire living room. In seconds, only black surrounded them.

Six brilliant lights seared into their vision. They found themselves staring at a scene unfolding before them. Six glowing orbs surrounded a body, with two figures just outside the circle of light. They were at the base of a large tree, with a single swing hanging down off of one of the thick branches.

"We have six…I don't understand why the seventh won't show!"

"…it must have something to do with that Shadow."

"Daddy…daddy really doesn't want to wake up…does he?"

"_Are we…seeing into his mind?!" Lynn gasped._

"His Shadow proclaimed it was tired of the world. Even though it understood it had love, and loyalty…I can't say I blame him. But…that we were able to get this far. It has to mean something, right?" One figure became clear. Miranda turned to her accomplice.

"Daddy's Shadow…all the remnants of the cycled emotions…brought to light because of the Division…why…why are his negative thoughts so powerful? Even now, with the fully Unification and Awakening of the Seven Guardians, its able to hold them off in their ultimate forms!"

"It's simple, Mikoto…" Miranda began explaining, as she slowly stepped towards the now obvious body of Zero. "It's not so much that they're powerful…it's more like…there's an imbalance. And because of the way he almost died…even if he was doing a Positive act…his regret…his guilt…his desire…all count as Negative aspects. And through that, now, they've finally taken form, combining with his natural survival instinct."

"_Is that what's happening? Is that why he doesn't wake up?" Jin queried._

"…he needs to be purified. A total restart…a total restoration…a clean slate…" Mikoto muttered. "But…I can't…I'm just part of him. I can't perform such an act. It would be tainted…flawed…" She was stopped by Miranda's hand on her shoulder. The two black haired girls looked at each other.

"Don't forget…we've got save points all around us, remember? **They **hold his memories, colored by their emotions…but…if we can draw them into him during a sequence where all emotion gets erased, and all that's left is _truth_…"

"…even I don't know how to do that. I don't think we can…not at this point." She fretted.

"No…_you _can't…" Miranda said softly. She walked over to Zero, staring at him for a moment, before looking up and nodding to herself. She swung her leg out and in the next instant, she was sitting on top of him, straddling his waist.

"_WAIT WHAT?!" Alma yelled out, causing Elliot to rub his ear. "Damn woman…loud much?"_

"But _I _can."

Mikoto blinked. "…oh…you…think that'll work?" She tilted her head.

"It's worth a shot. If the Seventh won't show on its own…well…I'll just _make _it show. We didn't sing that song to each other for nothing, you know?" She turned to Mikoto.

"That's right…for a moment…you and I were…"

Miranda nodded.

"Alright…I'll leave this to you…even if it costs me my life…just please…bring Daddy back…"

"I will." Mikoto vanished at those words, leaving Miranda on top of Zero. "Second time today I find myself like this. Hmph…the other me would be having a _field day _if the situation was reversed…though…knowing her, and what she picked up off you…well…I'm not gonna bother getting into it."

Alma's cheeks flared, as she vowed to pay her younger self back ten-fold for this embarrassment.

Miranda looked up at the tree above her. She lifted her hands to the sky, as if reaching for the wooden monument before her eyes. She closed her lids, taking a deep breath as she did so. The lights surrounding them seemed to flare. The tree began to shimmer, as if a mirage. Miranda's eyebrows twitched, as if she were straining with something. Her eyes snapped open, and as they did, a pulse seemed to rip through the small grassy area. The tree became alight in a silver glow, before shattering into tiny silver particles. These particles began swirling around Miranda's arms, before gathering into a single glowing sphere, one that resembled the others around her.

Alma clutched her head and gasped in pain. She started coughing, and out came a handful of blood. Those around her stared in shock, and she in horror, nobody knowing what was going on.

The silver sphere gently found itself being held to the child's chest, lovingly. Its glow faded, as it was absorbed into her body, her form now taking on the sphere's shine. She placed her hands on her heart, and the world flickered.

"_Wh-what?" _Alma still watched, even though she was now on her knees, blood dripping from the corners of her mouth. They all saw _her _form appear instead of Miranda's for a split second. As Miranda leaned forward, the change happened again. And as she got closer to the ground, the flickering seemed to pick up in pace, until finally, as her lips met his, the two forms overlapped, and an agonizingly bright silver light erupted from the two of them.

The world flickered and faded, showing a massive castle, seven figures strewn on the ground, struggling to rise, as a single black mass in the shape of a human with wings floated above them. It seemed the figure was prepared to wipe them all out in one final blow, when the massive silver shine erupted from the sky above them. All of them stared at the light, as the orb of silver changed. It became a ring, and the ring expanded into the sky. Three points glowed on the ring, and lines appeared connecting the points, until a single triangle formed. From that triangle, formed six others, until the symbol of Chaos was created in the sky.

"**What is this?! Why would that be-**

The figure's voice, a distorted, demonic version of Zero's, was cut off as the symbol seemed to pulse. A veritable prism of light shimmered through the 'sky'. From the center of the glyph emerged a single prismatic orb. The orb flew through the 'air' until it came to rest before the 'shadow' of Zero. The orb flared, and a ring of symbols appeared around it.

"…**valwa…cest…ciel…infel…manaf…lonfa…sphilar…"** The shadow read out. It floated there for a few moments. **"This…is our desire? To start anew? To rid ourself of all previous feelings…and wipe the slate clean…very well…I am You, after all…and what You want…honestly…I want. Let us be One…once again…"**

The shadow held out a single hand, and the bands of light in the form of chains of symbols wrapped around it, and then its entire form. Its body was absorbed in the glowing orb, black and silver merging to form a dark grey, before it flared a prism again, before returning to a total silver. The forms that were on the 'ground' before the castle, began vanishing, being absorbed into the sphere as well. The sphere then began to vibrate, before growing into a single form.

The form was Zero…only different. Skin of dark brown, hair of pure white, and eyes a radiant silver. He stepped towards the castle, before holding his hands out above him. The area rumbled, the dark void around them all beginning to twist and distort. The world's colors inverted, before once again, a pitch black shine was between his hands.

"_That's-_

The black glow collapsed upon itself, forming into a small point. The point then expanded outwards, creating a ring. There was still an orb in the center of the ring, however…but this orb expanded as well, only in the shape of a cross.

_**Was yea ra chs hymmnos mea…**_

Alma suddenly clutched her head, moaning, before the moans became sharp screams. Her head felt like it was being engulfed in the very essence of electricity itself. Tears of pain ran down her face, her thoughts jumbled, the voices of the others only serving to heighten her agony. Both Fettel and Alexander tried to touch her, to try to lessen her agony, but both were repelled by a sudden flare of her power. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open, pupils shrinking into almost unnoticeable points.

_**Sarla oz sphilar…sarla oz lonfa…sarla oz manaf…**_

A spray of blood flew out from just under her collarbone, as the form of Zero slammed the tip of the cross, now in the form of a large staff, into the 'ground.' She loosed a single gasp, before dropping backward into Becket's arms, eyes still wide open, the front of her shirt now covered in her life force.

_**Was yea ra chs tonelico…**_

Before their eyes, from a large empty space in the center of the 'courtyard', rose a massive wall of grey tendrils. These tendrils began winding around, twisting and turning, spiraling and looping, extending out from the wall, like arms on a body, poles on a radio tower…or as they saw when the grey light burst into shimmering particles…

_**Tonelico…sos sphilar, sos lonfa, sos manaf…**_

Branches on a tree.

"…_what the heaping shitty fuck-baskets?!"_ Was all Kidd could utter.

Before them, was a gigantic tree, twisted into the form of a spiraling tower made of bark and leaf. Above the tree-tower, was a single glowing, almost transparent orb, one with what looked like the symbol of Chaos floating above it…only there was a large cross in the center of the middle triangle, connected and extending out of the circle. And at the bottom of the cross, at the tip of the symbol that now looked like a fusion between the glyph of Chaos and the staff that Zero held, was the symbol for infinity.

_**Was yea ra chs hymmnos mea**_

_**Sarla oz tonelico…**_

_**Sos infel.**_

* * *

The void, the images, everything faded back into reality. Quickly, Jin pulled out her medical supplies. A flick of Sylph's wrist, and Alma's shirt was severed open cleanly. Jin set about wiping away the blood first, but then stopped as she gasped.

"Wh-what…?" Alma muttered, the pain slowly subsiding.

"There's…nothing wrong…except…did you ever get a cut below your neck?"

"Below…no...I don't…think so…" While she was returning to her senses, she wasn't yet fully coherent.

"Well…all that's here, despite what looked like a great deal of blood…is a bunch of triangular marks on your chest. They're small, like tiny tattoos but-

"What do they look like?"

"Uhh…actually…" She tilted her head slightly. "It looks almost like a hazard sign."

Alma shot up, not caring that her shirt had basically opened wide, exposing her bare chest to the room. She flung out a hand, and a small mirror punched open the door before flying into it. She angled it, and found Jin's words true. Four small triangles had been carved into her chest, a circle connecting all four, resembling the universal sign for dangerous materials.

Absently, while staring at the hand-held mirror, Alma gestured, another shirt gently floating down the stairs into her hand. She flicked the mirror out, causing it to float as she pulled the black garment on, before pulling the collar down after hissing in pain slightly. The skin was still raw feeling. She was drawn from her analysis by the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs.

Everyone was silent as the footsteps grew louder. The swinging double doors opened, admitting-

"ZERO!"

"Shhh! Not so loud. His senses are all hyper-active right now. He pretty much just came back from the dead." Miranda was at his side, holding his arm tightly between both of hers, as if she were his guide.

"Yer hair's white mate." Kidd spoke bluntly.

He nodded, before frowning. Miranda pat his arm. "Like I said, hyper-active. He can't even talk without feeling weird. But…I know what he's thinking. His hair's white because of the whole nearly dying thing, on top of all the mental stress. If it weren't for my contribution, he'd probably have somehow aged, knowing how the world acts around him."

He frowned again, giving a light glare. "I know, I know, too much. Sorry." He just sighed. "Come on, sit." She lured him to a chair and sat him down, before plopping into his lap gently. Alma just stared at the two.

"We don't need skin to skin contact anymore, but until his brain gets used to everything again, I need to be touching him somehow, to be able to synch well enough to tell you what he's thinking." Alma frowned, before pulling down the collar of her shirt.

"The hell is this?"

Zero blinked, tilting his head in confusion. Miranda just smiled brilliantly.

"Like it? It's our **mark**. It means we're bound to him. I've got one too, see?" She got up for a moment, before lifting her hair. She turned around, showing the back of her neck, where just below the base of her neck was, much like Alma, four triangles. Only hers were arranged differently.

"The…other half…?"

"Yeah. You have Destruction, I have Creation. Consider it a by-product of what I did to fix his head up. These…are our marks. They signify the bond between us, and him. You are his darkness, the power of destruction, the ability of erasure, the power to crush all that stands against him. I am his light, the power of creation, I heal and maintain the bonds between us, and within himself." She explained.

"Sensei…? Are you…well?" Kouji asked.

"As well as can be, for someone who pretty much defied death. That makes two people now, Me, and by Me I mean 'Alma', and Zero. Two people who refused to die. Though…_he _had a bit of help."

"Do these…do anything…?" Alma asked. "Besides sting, I mean."

Zero looked quizzically at Miranda. "Yeah. When everything stabilizes, they'll act as beacons. We'll always be able to find each other, and once things balance out right, Zero will be able to communicate with us at any time. It's a three-way link, with him in the center of it."

"**What was that vision? How did the girl summon it?"**

"…vision?" Miranda was confused.

"My power…is Light…the _Concept _of Light. One of my abilities is to create illusions by bending the Light around me, and projecting an image in my mind. I…barely remember something taking control…I remember hearing…**Desire**…"

"We saw what you did, kid." Betters said, bluntly. "You jumpin on him like a pony, shredding that tree, then doin…whatever the hell happened."

"Oh…_that_. That was…Mikoto and I had realized that he wouldn't wake under his own power, especially since an aspect of himself that was created from all the negativity within his memories taking form, and desiring a permanent end, was attacking the space we were trying to work from. His tower was…broken. We couldn't replicate it, because his very spirit was so fundamentally shattered. So…I took hold of the connection between the concept of 'Alma', and the concept of 'Zero' and used it as a catalyst to call forth my _own _Comprehension. And then…I gave us to him."

"…elaborate on that last bit." Alma spoke.

"I…took our essence, and merged it with his. To create a thought-line that would purge him of all emotions, all ties to anything and anyone, including us, so he could _completely _start over."

"I was coughing up **blood, **little me."

"Oh…I…I don't-

Zero tapped her arm, getting her attention. She looked at him, a bit worried, before he held her hand.

"A…byproduct…of the link being so horribly severed? Oh…I get it now…you mean she started spitting up blood, because her body was replicating the effects on her mind…and tearing her apart from within. And then…when we re-made your tower…in the image of my tree…"

He nodded at her.

"That makes sense…especially since she and I are essentially the same mind, just split personalities confined into separate bodies…but…what about you? Did the merger do anything to you?"

He pointed at a nearby wall clock.

"Clock?"

He squeezed her hand and shook his head.

"Time? Wait…you got…_our _memories?"

Alma paled slightly as he nodded.

"That…was the cost of accepting us as your pillars wasn't it? We'd already seen something personal of yours…but since we were acting as buffers for everything, you saw all of us. And in exchange, we don't just have a backdoor to your mind, we're _always _in your mind…as part of its defenses…right?"

He nodded.

"Its stabilizing, isn't it?"

He nodded again. But then made a teetering motion with his hand.

"Slowly? I can understand that. But…you'll be ok, right?"

He smiled tiredly at her.

"Good." Her stomach growled.

"Oh…I guess I'm really hungry."

He tapped her hand with his thumb, and she looked at him. Her mind was filled with words and images.

"Well…uhh, do any of you have plans for the evening?"

A chorus of denials.

"Zee wants to have a small party, to celebrate a successful, if you can call it that, mission. And saving the city and all."

"Party? Hell yeah!" Elliot yelled. Zero winced slightly, and Alma, Miranda, Claris and Kidd were all about to chew him out, when Zero just waved his hand at Elliot.

"Sorry sensei." Zero shook his head, then squeezed Miranda's hand.

"He says you're setting up the grill, since you loved doing that beforehand." Elliot blinked for a moment, surprised.

"He also says before any of you three say anything, there was nothing to forgive. You were all well within your rights to choose the path you did. It was a confusing time for everyone, and his jumbled head didn't help matters at all."

The three newcomers nodded solemnly.

"It's in the same spot it's always been." Elliot nodded, before swiftly moving out of the room, to the back of the house where all the outdoor activity objects were kept.

He tapped her hand again.

"You sure?" He nodded.

"Alright. Do you want me or…" she suddenly smirked. Zero's eyes closed and he gave her a squinty look.

"I'll leave you two to it. But if you're not back down by the time food's ready I'm coming to get you." He nodded.

The two got up, Miranda gently leading Zero by the hand over to Alma. She grabbed Alma's left hand, and placed it in Zero's. Alma twitched, feeling an unusual current run through her body.

"Alright, upstairs you two. Zee still needs to re-align himself with everything, and _you_ need to get used to the new connection, other me." Zero nodded, before gently tugging Alma's hand. She blinked, but followed.

"As for the rest of us, we gotta set up, get that radio out, and start for the damn party!"

A loud "fuck yeah!" could be heard from outside, as Elliot yelled out his approval. With that, Miranda set about directing people to their tasks, telling the knights to go make a quick run to the store in town while Elliot got the grill ready, and grab some more proper snacks. Miranda threw on the apron that was two sizes too big for her, tied her hair up in a pony tail and whipped out some shredded cheese, some pepperoni and sausage and sauce, pulling out a few pre-made crusts as well.

"Wait, you're gonna make _pizza _too?" Becket asked.

"Hell yeah I am. With all of us around, we're gonna need to make a _lot _of food. And besides, whatever's left we can save for later in the week. Plus, I've got the memories of how to do it all from Zero, and he makes _good _pizza."

"Sometimes…I keep forgetting you're not really a kid." He muttered.

"I'll let you in on a little secret." The others had left to perform their tasks, and Becket's was to get all the plates and utensils ready. He froze, feeling a familiar power wash over him. He turned, to see Miranda standing before him, looking exactly like Alma.

"I'm really not. I just have no need to walk around as an adult. When I reach the right ages, I'll age, but till then, I'm still the part of Alma that never got to have a real family, and never got to properly grow up. So now, I've got a brother, a sister, an uncle, an undead uncle, and a bunch of not-sisters. I…**we**…are finally happy." She flickered back to her child form.

Becket just gave a small smile, before patting her on the head, as she said the last sentence she'd speak to anyone, until the party started.

"It's good…to finally be home…"

* * *

**A/N:** This…as much as some people are going to hate it. Will technically be the last, "official" chapter of this story.

Yes, I know I just introduced characters that obviously have some tie to Zero and the Knights, and have done nothing with them. There is a reason for that.

They don't matter. They have a history, and that is all. If there's enough interest, I'll willingly make a little bonus one-shot telling all about them, and their trials, and the breakup between them all.

There will be an epilogue, maybe a double epilogue, maybe not. But I'll say it here. The plot for this fic was very basic, and simple. I've pushed it as far as it can go.

I'm aware that "Alexander" isn't the name of Alma's son. And rather than keeping him non-descript like I did last chapter, because of the unveiling of the upcoming F.3.A.R. game, I wrote him to look like he did in the trailer. Which is pretty badass. Good to finally see a damn face on him. Scruffy as a mofo though, but that just adds to it.

Also, I'm gonna say it here. No way in **HELL **is Alma that ugly. Seriously, I don't know what random bitch they pulled off the street to play her, but bitch did Alma no justice.

Summer Glau is still the best woman to be Alma, IMO. I'm up for debate on this however, so if you got an opinion, I wanna hear it.

**Execute the creation of the imaginary world.**

_**I will be glad to turn myself into a song.**_

_**A song of the mind…a song of the soul…a song of existence**_

_**I will be glad to become the Divine tree...**_

_**A Divine Tree…for the sake of the mind…for the sake of the soul…for the sake of existence**_

_**I will be glad to turn myself into a song.**_

_**A song of the Tower…**_

_**For the sake of love.**_


End file.
